BY PAT FARNELLI
Correspondent

Elk Lake Elementary students headed for the track Wednesday for a Unity Day walk and rally, playing songs with positive lyrics and holding aloft posters with messages like “Be Someone’s Superhero” or “Be Kind.”
October is National Bullying Prevention Month; Elk Lake held its program on Wednesday, Oct. 21 – the official “Unity Day.”

Elementary principal Marc Weisgold and Lindsey Williams organized the event, with elementary music teacher Ryan Berry serving as the event’s DJ.

Rather than dwelling on bullying, the event emphasized elementary school friendship, community, and togetherness, Weisgold said.

Students read testimonials of a kind deed they performed, and were applauded by their peers after concluding, “I am a superhero.”

Just before the Unity Walk started, the children sang the appealing, “Play With Me,” a song they learned last year for the school’s first Unity Day celebration.

High school students are also engaged in an anti-bullying program. Theirs is called the Olweus Bullying Prevention program, with the motto: “We’re all in this together!”

The students wore orange shirts, which is the official color for the national Unity Day. The shirts being sold for the program have a square of four hands gripping each other by the wrist, with the inscriptions “Lend a Han”d and “Take a Stand– Stop Bullying!!!!”

The annual event was developed by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center to show support for preventing bullying in schools, neighborhoods, and online.

“Unity Day is a great time to wear orange and raise awareness that this is an issue that you care about, and that safe and supportive schools are important,” said Paula Goldberg, PACER’s executive director. “We encourage communities and schools around the world to join together against bullying – and unite for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion on Oct. 21.”

Unity Day began in 2011 as part of National Bullying Prevention Month which was launched by PACER in 2006. In addition to hundreds of events in the United States, Unity Day is now recognized around the world with students and organizations doing numerous activities.

Last year, a middle school in Mexico held the first international Run, Walk, Roll Against Bullying event, students in New Zealand decorated bullying prevention cookies, and corporate employees in Argentina wore orange and shared about their event on social media.

PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, actively leads social change, so that bullying is no longer considered an accepted childhood rite of passage. PACER provides innovative resources for students, parents, educators, and others, and recognizes bullying as a serious community issue that impacts education, physical and emotional health, and the safety and well-being of students. PACER offers tools to address bullying in schools, the community, and online. For more information, visit PACER.org/bullying or call (952) 838-9000 or (888) 248-0822 (national toll free).