YHS set for Challenge Day

Earlene Ward - Yosemite High School

 

Challenge Day is coming to Yosemite High School Tuesday and Wednesday, February 25 and 26. Nancy Lusby, YHS health and peer communications teacher, calls it “the most powerful program I've seen or been involved in during 27 years of teaching.”

Challenge Day is described as a program committed to stopping teen violence and alienation. The program is designed “to tear down the walls of separation, inspiring participants to live, study and work in an environment of compassion, acceptance and respect.”

Trainers from Challenge Day in Martinez will be on campus those two days to work with about 200 students and about 50 staff members and other adults. The students in Mrs. Lusby's peer communications class are in charge of the program with Karissa Simonsen serving as overall coordinator for her senior project.

Students from all of the various groups on campus will be invited to participate in the day-long session. One group of about 100 students will be trained each of the two days.

The students will be trained to interact in a positive way with those who are not in their group and who do not have the same interests they have.

YHS Principal Steve Raupp says, “Challenge Day will provide us with a wonderful opportunity to help students to learn to be tolerant of others, to resolve conflicts and to develop positive self-esteem. In other schools where it has been used it has had a tremendous impact on the culture of the school. We believe it will contribute to a positive learning environment for our students.”

Students in the peer communication class are enthusiastic about the program and what they believe it will accomplish on the campus. They became involved after Mrs. Lusby showed a video about the program in their class.

(The video will be shown for anyone who would like to see it on Tuesday, February 4, at 7 p.m. in the YHS Library. Students will be available to answer questions.)

“We were touched by the video and wanted to do the program,” says YHS senior Kyle Stivers. Jennifer Lewis, also a senior, said they want to bring the different groups together “and bring down barriers.”

Jessica Knotts, another YHS senior, believes this is a program every school needs. “People who put others down, embarrass others in public and who are generally mean are everywhere,” she says.

They also want teenagers to see that they are not alone, that other students have the same problems and concerns. Karissa says, “it wows them (teenagers) to know they aren’t the only one” with a given problem.

The main focus of Challenge Day at YHS will be on freshmen and sophomores. The students organizing the event don’t want it to stop with them, but, rather, they want to inspire the younger students who, they hope, will carry it on year after year. “We don’t want this to end when we graduate,” Karissa says.

The teens also hope this program will help adults be more understanding of them. Kyle says they want to show parents that high school has changed since they were there.

Karissa thinks the media has created a big problem for teen-agers. She talks about the “R” rated movies of today and says they would probably have been “X” rated when their parents were teenagers and she comments about the “half-naked people on TV.”

Also, the students say, most of their parents grew up in a two-parent home when divorce was not as common as it is today. Their parents did not have to deal with the added stress of a one-parent home.

In addition to pointing out how life is different for teens today than it was for their parents, they also want to show the adults that they really care.

“Kids are around for other kids,” comments Jessica Knotts, “we have more influence on each other.” Jennifer adds, “They go to peers more than they go to adults” for advice and help.

When asked about the problems teens encounter at YHS, the students mentioned bullying, rumors, intimidation and emotional isolation.

The students say there is every possible type of group on the YHS campus and often the conflicts are group against group. They believe Challenge Day will help the students in the different groups to be more accepting and understanding of each other and to reach out to other students.

They hope students will come to realize how hurtful it is to spread rumors and to say things to one student just so others will laugh. This becomes a habit.

Karissa has been visiting service clubs and organizations in the community to show the video about Challenge Day, to answer questions and to ask for financial support for the program.

She says Challenge Day is a good investment for the community. “The kids we are helping today will be the community leaders tomorrow,” she says. “What we learn from this will go with us.”

The two-day Challenge Day program will cost between $8,000 and $9,000. The students are seeking money and supplies to meet this expense. In addition to financial donations from local businesses and clubs, the students raised almost $800 at the Christmas Tree Auction in December.

Funds will be needed for next year as well. The students hope the program will be such a success and have such an impact that people will continue to support it.

“It will have a big impact,” comments Jessica even if it doesn't turn out exactly as they hope. Karissa adds that if it helps just one student it will be worth all they have put into it. “One person can make a difference,” she says.

The students express their deep appreciation to everyone who has supported their efforts either through money, supplies or encouragement.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the program can contact Earlene Ward at YHS, 683-8801 ext. 338. For information about the Challenge Day program, leave a message for Mrs. Lusby at 683-4667 ext. 289.