By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
On Friday, March 11, the staff at the Caribou Middle School partnered with members of CADET (Community Alcohol and Drug Education Team) and the ASAP (Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention) Coalition in hosting an Asset Theme Day.
JMavor photo
The entire student body and staff at the Caribou Middle School celebrated School Pride Day on March 11, when members of the Developmental Asset Team, CADET and ASAP, helped promote positive peer relationships and focused on the importance of the need that, “Everybody has a story: Get to know it.”
According to Clare Desrosiers, MSW, from ASAP, “the focus of the day was to promote positive peer relationships through educational workshops and a social norms campaign aimed at fostering development assets which breakdown social barriers.”
The entire CMS student body received T-shirts that said, “Everybody has a story: Get to know it.” Following an energy-filled opening ceremony students participated in seven workshops with topics that included, acceptance, positive values and positive identity.
Allison Heidorn is the advisor to the CMS Developmental Assets Team, which is made up of seventh-and eighth-grade students who were invited to join the team. The group meets weekly with Heidorn, working toward their goal of teaching kids about developmental assets and encouraging them to pass on those assets to their peers.
“Local coalitions including CADET and ASAP are both actively involved in promoting positive peer relationships and building stronger schools and communities through the work that they are doing,” stated Heidorn.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Kathy Mazzuchelli, left, CADET member and Angela Williams, held a break-out session during CMS School Pride Day, in which they showed how harmful words or actions can make another reach their breaking point and fight back.
“When I attended a national youth training in November in Houston, with people from all around the world, attendees were amazed at the work being done in our schools,” said Heidorn. “Very few communities have made the commitment to work on building developmental assets as Caribou Middle School has. That is in large part due to the administration and staff support of the work. Sue White, principal at CMS has embraced the Developmental Asset message and has been fully supportive of the work that is being done,” she added.
“If a child does not have Developmental Assets in their lives they can’t succeed in school, or in life. It is in our best interest as a community to take the time and make the commitment to foster such things as, positive values, positive identity, support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations — Caribou Middle School has done just that,” Heidorn stated.
According to Heidorn, in order to compliment the efforts of CMS. CADET has been working on creating a community Developmental Asset model to spread these messages to the community at large.
“School Pride Day is a perfect example of what a true gift young people are to our community,” said Heidorn. “This executed a day that those in attendance will not soon forget. It was a day rich with discussion about topics that young people can relate to, a day that was etched with emotion and a day in which every young person had the opportunity to contribute. When we take the time to listen and allow youth the opportunity to be heard, magic happens as was true on March 11 at the Caribou Middle School,” she added.
During the break-out sessions held at CMS on School Pride Day, students participated in a variety of topics, including judging and labeling others without knowing their story and the harmful effects words can have on others.
Contributed photo
Guest speaker Angela Williams speaks to the Caribou Middle School student body during the opening ceremony on School Pride Day, March 20.
In her workshop, Heidorn asked students to give one word descriptions that they felt could be used to identify several individuals including a scientist, athlete, cheerleader, class president, and a break-dancer. etc. As the lists grew she proceeded to ask for physical descriptions of the same. At the end of the break-out session Heidorn proved to the students how wrong people can be about judging others without knowing their story, by telling them that she (who they all agreed they liked) was a scientist (has degree in biology), a cheerleader, class president and a break-dancer.
“This is the second year that we have had a Developmental Assets Team at CMS,” said White. “Earlier this winter, I was invited to one of the team meetings because the kids had an idea that they wanted to run by me. This was when they shared with me their desire to have what they wanted to call ‘School Pride Day.’ I immediately though of school spirit and Viking Pride but they quickly defined for me what they now see as school pride,” she added.
“The students talked about having pride in our whole school community by the way people treat each other and how we can be proud of CMS by the way that people treat each other. Needless to say I was floored and very proud of this group,” said White. “This is also where the idea of T-shirts for everyone came from. They wanted to find a way to break down at least one of the social barriers that kids deal with everyday at every school. The students explained to me that clothing is an issue and if that could be taken off the table for just one day, it would send a very strong message to everyone involved. So they came up with a design and they ran with it — soliciting funds and were able to purchase a T-shirt for everyone,” she added.
White also stated that Heidorn and the team of students brainstormed the seven break-out sessions, lining up guest speakers, finding creative ways to promote the day with the school and organizing opening and closing ceremonies. “The break-out sessions focused on recognizing the uniqueness of everyone and celebrating that. Kids had the opportunity to participate in activities that broke down social barriers and built teamwork and unity,” she said.
“These skills are what kids need in order to be successful and they need to be addressed with them,” White stated. “As a school and as a community we are presented with teachable moments when we interact with young people and we need to take advantage of those moments. I think that CMS took advantage of that teachable moment in a big way and we now need to continue to reinforce the message of acceptance and kindness whenever we have the opportunity,” continued White.
The CMS principal also stated, “As adults in these students’ lives, we have a responsibility to foster a community that is supportive for kids and helps them to develop these crucial life skills. Just like math and reading need to be taught so do these skills to some degree.”
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Allison Heidorn, advisor to the Caribou Middle School Developmental Assets Team, works with students in a break -out session during the March 20 School Pride Day.
White also commented, “Throughout the day I heard kids commenting on what a good day it was and how it was nice to have the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that concern them in a way that was safe, meaningful and productive.”
“The staff was also very positive about the day,” added White. “They were impressed with the way the students participated in the sessions and how seriously they responded to the topics that were put on the table. Staff members saw it as a very beneficial day and will be able to build upon the activities and discussions in their own classes each day when those teachable moments present themselves,” she added.
Contributed photo
Displaying their School Pride Day T-shirts are CMS Developmental Assets Team members, from left, Anna Soderberg, Taitem Lindsey, Megan Theriault and Chathu Karunisari.
Contributed photo
Caribou Middle School students hold coupons for their School Pride T-shirts.
