NIOS Roundup: Upstander Athletes & Journeys Toward Tolerance

Upstander Spotlight: Queen Creek High School Football Team

Chy Johnson, a 16-year-old student with a genetic brain disorder, was being relentlessly bullied at Queen Creek High School in Arizona and would come home in tears every day. Her mother reached out to Carson Jones, the starting quarterback of the school’s football team, for help. Carson could have simply reported the bullies to his coach or principal, or even ignored the request altogether. Instead, he went above and beyond, inviting Chy to eat lunch with him. [1]Now, Chy eats lunch with Carson and the rest of the football team every day, and goes to every football game to support “her boys.” We admire how Carson and his teammates defied the social restraints of high school to help a bullied student.

Upstander Spotlight: Giants Pitcher Sergio Romo – “I just look illegal.”
Sergio Romo, a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, made a statement against racial profiling at the World Series victory parade on Halloween in San Francisco. During the parade, he wore a shirt that read, “I Just Look Illegal,” [2] standing with Mexican-Americans who have been wrongly profiled as illegal immigrants. It is great that Sergio Romo made this statement and is an upstander for tolerance and acceptance. Check out the Not in Our School video No Human Being was Born Illegal.
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Tupelo, Teaching Tolerance, and an Ongoing Journey Out of Homophobia.
In a guest blog for Human Rights Campaign, Rhonda Thomason shared her personal journey toward acceptance and tolerance that began 10 years ago at an anti-racism meeting. She admits to having previously held homophobic views, but by listening to the “coming out” stories of others she found a way to break out of her intolerant mindset. Read her blog on the HRC’s website.
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STAND willUstand Video Contest
Twelve-year-old Charleigh Gere is helping others stand up to bullying with a new anthem. Entitled simply, “Stand,” Charleigh wrote the song for the willUstand organization’s effort to create a crowdsourced music video empowering others to raise their voices against intolerance. They’re asking interested participants to submit short video clips showing people spreading the word about the destructiveness of bullying. The end result will be a complete music video, created entirely by willUstand’s fans! Visit their website [5] for more information. The contest ends Dec. 1.

In:

tolerance [6]

anti-bullying [7]

teaching tolerance [8]