By: Helen - 8th grader
On April 3, 2014, five students in the student council took a day
trip, with the board of the student council to Boston to participate in
the annual Youth Leadership Conference. This is an annual event by the Anti-Defamation League of Boston.
This was a program designed to strengthen leadership qualities among
students. The coordinators used teamed building exercises and
discussions to influence kids to 'speak up and speak out' against
bullying, discrimination, and harassment.
To start off the event, several important speakers got up on a podium
and shared their experience with the large crowd. Their experiences
were about times they spoke up against things like racism and
discrimination. The keynote speaker was Peggy Wallace Kennedy, daughter
of former governor George Wallace of Alabama. She was 13 years old when
he said the infamous words, “Segregation now, Segregation tomorrow and
segregation forever!” Ms. Kennedy sent an inspiring message about how
change is always possible!
After the speakers, we split into groups to do the leadership
exercises. These consisted of sharing our own experiences of standing up
and speaking out and talking about bullying in our schools and what we
can/should do about it. The event taught us more about speaking up
against bullying and being an ally.