Palos South Club Recipient of Sandy Hook Promise Award

Palos South Middle School’s SAVE Promise Club was recently named the recipient of a $500 award to support their continuing efforts to create a socially inclusive school and prevent school violence.

The funding comes from the Sandy Hook Promise SAVE Promise Club Sustainability Management Supports program which helps clubs around the country with their efforts to organize activities and events throughout the school year to foster an atmosphere of inclusion, eliminate social isolation, and create an atmosphere of trust in their schools. SAVE stands for Students Against Violence Everywhere and is part of the non-profit Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs programs and teaches students to be more socially inclusive and connected to each other.

Activities that students in the Palos South SAVE Promise Club organize each year include Start with Hello week which includes a week-long roster of get-to-know-you activities to create a more inviting school environment as well as Say Something Week which encourages students to find a trusted adult to talk to in order to foster a culture that prevents school violence.

Palos South Social Workers Jill Yerkes, Sarah Leahy, and Jill Martinez serve as Palos South Middle School’s SAVE Promise Club sponsors and said that the students would use the award funds to host events throughout the year like their recent “Scoopapalooza” ice cream social that they held during Start with Hello Week in September.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by Sandy Hook Promise for our commitment to preventing school violence,” said Yerkes.

“There isn’t a more important cause, and our SAVE Promise kids work so hard to make Palos South an inclusive, safe environment for everyone.”