Today, we invite you to visit our new online toolkit and resource hub at NotInOurSchool.org [1]. One year after our successful launch of NIOT.org [2], we have brought together 15 years of films that document the immense capacity, energy and creativity of young people who are creating safe school environments.Here's what you'll find on the NIOS website:
● More than 20 Not [3] In [4] Our [4] School [4] videos [4], with discussion questions to open the conversation and spark dialogue in your classroom or school group
● Step-by-step Not In Our School activity guides [5] you can use to adapt the creative activities featured in our films to your school or classroom.
● An interactive " [9]What [10] Do [10] You [10] Say [10]?" [10]section [10] for students to share stories, ideas, and advice for taking a stand against bullying and intolerance
With the launch of NotInOurSchool.org, we've added two new videos that showcase inspiring peer programs at two high schools.
In “Students Map Bully Zones to Create a Safer School [11],” shot at Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio earlier this year, you will meet students who are mapping their school to locate the spaces where bullying takes place. After identifying the "bully hotspots," including the cafeteria, media lab, and locker rooms, students created a flash freeze demonstration to raise awareness about where bullying takes place, and opened the conversation about how to create a safer school.
“New Immigrants Share Their Stories [12],” was shot in Queens, N.Y. last December. The students of Newcomers High School in Long Island City, a school made up of recent immigrants, and those of St. Luke's, a private middle school in Manhattan, have come together to share stories and learn from each other. Newcomers Human Rights teacher Julie Mann gave us access to the student's video diaries and a book they've created which showcases the student's partnership.
The first Not In Our School group formed at a middle school in Auburn, Maine in 1998. Here’s what teachers have to say about having Not In Our School activities on their campus:
I love Not In Our Schools (NIOS) week for so many reasons! :-) It provides students and teachers an opportunity to talk about topics that can be emotional, as well as sometimes uncomfortable. As a result, these conversations end up bringing our school community closer to one another. We are willing to share with each other a little bit more, our conversations are a little more thoughtful, and the goal of teaching the “whole child” is really being done during this week.—Daisy Renazco, Gunn High School (Palo Alto, Calif.)
teacher. Read her full story here [13].
I've learned so much more from them than they've learned from me. I have learned that if you open the doors and allow students to have a voice in their school, that they will take it to the highest level they possibly can. They want to be in a safe environment. And they want to make a difference. They want to have an impact on their world.
—Gail Price, Orange High School (Pepper Pike, Ohio) teacher
One of the kids today wa
s crying during one of her interviews because many of the issues that the immigrant students are dealing with are very, very upsetting. But I think that they're issues that we have to talk about and I don't think that teenagers are as afraid to talk about it as adults are. They just need to be given the opportunity to. And I think ultimately, once you get in the habit of talking about it, then you can begin to make it a normal part of your life.
s crying during one of her interviews because many of the issues that the immigrant students are dealing with are very, very upsetting. But I think that they're issues that we have to talk about and I don't think that teenagers are as afraid to talk about it as adults are. They just need to be given the opportunity to. And I think ultimately, once you get in the habit of talking about it, then you can begin to make it a normal part of your life.—Kim Allen, St. Luke’s School (New York, N.Y.) teacher
Not In Our Town community: We hope you will join us in this exciting, new endeavor and refer the educators, parents and students in your life to NotInOurSchool.org [1]. Sign up for updates through our new Not In Our School e-newsletter.
As always, thank you for helping us Stop Hate. Together.
The Not In Our Town/Not In Our School team
The Not in Our School Initiative is a part of the Not In Our Town movement. To learn more visit NIOT.org or write to us at info@niot.org [14]. Not In Our School is a collaboration of Not in Our Town and Facing History and Ourselves and is made possible through the generosity of the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust.
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