Friday Gateway Crossroads held an event during school to send a message that bullying is not okay.
This event was modeled after Unity Day, which was started by PACERS National Bullying Prevention Center. PACERS actively leads social change to prevent childhood bullying. The main goal for the event at Gateway was to bring together youth and educators to emphasize the message that bullying is not acceptable and all students deserve to feel safe in school, online, and in the community.
Gateway staff and students wore navy t-shirts so we could all be unified. The shirts said, “Peace. Love. Unity. #End bullying.” Mr. Herron designed the shirts and Ms. Vendemia and her screen-printing class made them.
Each activity that students and staff participated in lasted 40 minutes. Both the principal and assistant principal provided lunch. We did activities around the building such as baking cookies and pizzas which brought us together by working and helping each other in the kitchen. We made keychains out of little beads, played video games, painted a Halloween picture, and learned about Sources of Strength.
Unity Day has been recognized for 13 years and Gateway Crossroads takes time every year to celebrate and encourage the importance of Unity Day concepts by coming together at least once a year to celebrate our similarities and our differences.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel came up with Unity Day, the day that Gateway Crossroads based our event on, because he wanted it to be a reminder of the importance of national integration. He was a visionary leader who played an important role in unifying India after gaining independence from British colonial rule.
Not only does the United States celebrate this day, but so does Canada, India, Russia, Yemen, Germany, and Ukraine which this shows everyone how important and what a big deal it is to spend a day being unified.
