Blog

Here at Aaron School, and in schools across the country, October is known as Bullying Prevention Month! Through bullying-prevention themed challenges, lessons, and activities, students learned how to prevent bullying in our school community, and how to be Aaron “Upstanders” instead.

Bullying Prevention Month was kicked off at 30th Street with a Positive Post-Its Day, where Post-It notes with positive and motivational messages decorated the walls and hallways of the school. Students were encouraged to take what they needed, and use these reminders to uplift them throughout the day. Later that week, all students engaged in an interactive lesson about bullying and how to be Aaron Upstanders. They signed pledges to be Upstanders by treating others with kindness and respect, including others, refusing to bully others, and acting to get help when others are bullied! These pledges were collected by Ms. Solomita and Ms. Cooke, and transformed into a huge, orange, heart-shaped mural that students could see every day. This acts as a reminder that Aaron School is a bully-free community! To further keep this kind, community spirit alive, both students and staff participated in Unity Day on October 21st by wearing orange colored clothing, masks, and accessories, signaling that they were united against bullying!

Another exciting part of Bullying Prevention Month was the October Kindness Challenge. Each week, students were given an in-person and/or virtual kindness task to complete. These included tasks such as saying hello to Ms. Wixman each morning, complimenting others on something they do well, texting a friend to let them know what they appreciate about them, and thanking someone who has helped them. The last week in October, students were challenged to generate a unique kindness challenge for themselves. With a schoolwide goal of completing 500 acts of kindness over the month of October, Aaron students easily surpassed this number, wrapping up October with 607 acts of kindness completed!

To celebrate the end of Bullying Prevention Month, students participated in an Aaron Upstander Photo Booth. Students posed for pictures in an “It’s Cool to be Kind!” photo booth cutout, and kept the pictures as a keepsake of all they had learned and accomplished over the course of Bullying Prevention Month. Even though October is over, the hope is that Aaron School students will continue to make positive choices, and use these skills both in and out of the classroom.