"Be the Change" Makes a Difference

student Alex Johnson acknowledges he puts on a tough exterior.

As part of that facade he was known to use labels that he now realizes wasn't the best thing.

'Before I just saw clothes," he said, admitting that he wasn't seeing past the person's exterior.

He credits a recent event Absegami's Lead for Diversity held at the school with changing all of that.

The purpose behind the club's Be the Change event is "to promote tolerance among students whether it's race, religion or sexual orientation," adviser Elizabeth Lee said.

The idea came up during a  camp held last summer. Students were brainstorming what event and issue ideas to bring awareness to. The anti-bullying program—Be the Change, which is based on an MTV program—resulted.

As part of the Be the Change event, participants had to admit something that they might not have otherwise admitted before, Lee and the students explained.

For Angela Maggio, it was admitting that everyone goes through problems.

"I realized that everyone deals with problems,” Maggio said. “I'm not the only one who goes through different things. (However) together, if we work together, we could work through them and feel better."

For Johnson, on the other hand, it was not only admitting that he had a tough exterior but also some of the words he often used.

"We tossed around terms and names like they were nothing," he told the Greater Egg Harbor Regional Board of Education Monday night.

Johnson and Maggio were among several students to speak Monday night about the impact  the club, as well as Be the Change, has had on their lives.

Seventy students and faculty members attended.

"I've never seen Alex cry before," fellow student Reynaldo Delgatto said.

He indicated he's known Johnson for the past couple of years and was aware of the tough exterior Johnson showed within the school.

"I give him a lot of credit for crying in front of us," Delgatto said.