Liberty Students Lead the Way for Unity Day

Liberty High was the site of the first student-led workshop for unity and diversity in Carroll County Friday.

The day was selected as the students had early dismissal.

"Last year, we had the Department of Justice, they have a education unit that comes in and does what is called a spirit survey," said principal Tom Clowes. "They talked to all different groups within the school, rather they be ethic or cliques within the school and one of the things that came out it was the students requested a Unity day.

"We were going to have this last year, it just didn’t work. We picked a day this year that would be a half a day and wrote a grant to get Dr. Williams this year. It is student led, student directed. The kids come in here and go to one or two sessions, that they picked sort of like a workshop.’’ Clowes added between keynote presentations.

On the agenda was a keynote presentation by Dr. Craig Williams, sessions led by student facilitators, mix-it-up for lunch, a DJ also with lunch, a preview of Aida, the spring musical production and signing a pledge against bullying.

Williams spoke about being different along with the warning signs of suicide and how to help.

"We all have feelings, we all have friends, we all want to be loved. We are all different. Sometimes we look different, we act different, but underneath it all how we look and how we act we are all the same," said Williams, a counseling psychologist.

"We are the same and are different at the same time. So diversity and the idea that people are different should be okay. If people don’t feel okay, that’s when they start to hurt. When they start to hurt, they start to think about things in that hurt."

He talked a lot about QPR. The letters stand for question, persuade and refer. "What does QPR spell? If you said it spelled something, your going to be in trouble and your English teacher will be talking to you," Williams said.

He offered handouts, a phone number (1-800-273-talk) and a website for students to use. 

He is the father of Liberty spanish teacher, Nicole Williams.

There were 43 classrooms used for the sessions as students met in smaller groups.

"It’s run by student facilitators who have been trained by the central office. They cover bullying of course, derogatory terms and other differences. It’s one thing I feel very strongly about that the kids are going to get more out of it if it comes from them versus one of us standing up here. I think the kids have done a phenomenal job, I would like this is to a yearly event,’’ said Clowes.

The school trained about 90 students as facilitators according to Trisha Deen. An English teacher. Deen is also the school liaison for Education that is Multicultural at Liberty. There were two facilitators and two teachers per classroom.

"They were trained by Pat Levroney, minority achievement liaison for the county. So far, so good," Deen said Friday morning about the facilitators and the event.

"I actually like it, because you get to see how its working and how its affecting everybody hands on," said junior facilitator Jessica Speaks. "I like being a facilitator, you can see what’s happening with your group. It’s nice to guide them through it. I know how hard it is. I'm a shy person I don’t show my feelings. I don’t feel like I have anything worth sharing, but then I do. It feels good to help everybody try to get in and take it serious and do it right."

The facilitators were broken into three groups and each went through a 45-mintue training session. The facilitators had their last run-through on Thursday. Deen said a survey through the school a few months ago about Unity Day and what the students were interested in. There was a place on the survey for the students to check to be a facilitator.

The play, Aida was written by Elton John and Tim Rice. The musical production opened to the public this week and deals with multicultural conflict.

For lunch the students were encouraged to sit with students they normally don’t sit with. The students were entertained by a DJ during their lunch time.

"The goal is to bring us closer together despite the differences we may have," said Clowes.