Westchester/Putnam Middle Schoolers SAIL Toward Dignity

Like social scientists, students from five area middle schools set out to make their school buildings kinder, safer places for everyone to learn. They carefully researched student attitudes using interviews and surveys. They documented and analyzed their findings.

Then they brainstormed ways to educate students and improve cultural attitudes, and they put those strategies into practice. All of this stemmed from SAIL, Students Acting in Leadership to Promote Positive School Culture, a program launched by Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES in response to the New York State Dignity for All Students Act.

On May 7, the student teams came together at BOCES’ Yorktown campus for a SAIL Showcase. Teams of students from Ardsley, H.C. Crittenden (Byram Hills), George Fischer (Carmel), Anne M. Dorner (Ossining) and Irvington Middle Schools offered gallery displays, live presentations and multimedia shows describing the work they had done.

Among the tactics employed were creating opportunities for students to get to know new friends by “switching up who they sit with at lunch,” role playing to demonstrate how to be an “upstander” rather than a bystander to bullying, rewarding positive behavior with bracelets, encouraging the use of terms like ouch and oops to draw attention to bullying language, distributing kindness cards to encourage specific acts of kindness, and improving positivity in school with upbeat music and teams of greeters to make all feel welcome.

“We are in the company of outstanding students and outstanding school leaders who really believe that school safety comes from the inside out, and there’s a good deal of research to back them up,” said Kim Fontana, assistant director of special education and guidance, who organized SAIL along with Fredericka Butler, coordinator of the Center for Educational Leadership.

Butler told the audience that in the fall of 2012 a number of district representatives collaborated on creating a grass-roots student leadership program related to the Dignity Act. The concept was that students would “buy in” to the program, serve as its leaders, and create a legacy for subsequent students. Judging by the presentations at the SAIL Showcase, they were right.

One of the keys to the program was that all approaches to creating better school environments stemmed from research. For example, Byram Hills students found that students were more likely to stand up for someone when they had a personal connection to them. So one of their strategies was to encourage students to make more connections by moving outside their established social circles.

Ossining middle school students used role playing, as both bullies and targets of bullying, to focus on the goal of “being an upstander, not just a bystander.” The team called upon students to “stomp out bullying” and created custom shoes to draw attention to the effort. Ossining’s program also gave students a leadership role in an existing anti-bullying program known as Olweus.  

Ardsley students encouraged their peers to “Jump Out” of their comfort zone by getting to know people outside their usual circles. On Jump Out days, students were assigned to sit at different tables in the cafeteria and were given conversation starters to help them talk to one another. By working directly, peer to peer, they hoped to reverse the perception that it’s okay to make fun of other people, whether adults are present or not.

Carmel students described themselves as “committed to making a difference” in the culture of their school by “improving positivity.” Special greeters, called ROCKers – based on the school’s motto, Respect, Organize, Cooperate and Keep Safe – dressed in bright colored T-shirts, played music, and welcomed classmates, saying hello in the hallways and wishing them well at the end of the day. The idea is that if the school is welcoming and inclusive, there will be less isolation and exclusion and fewer bullying incidents.

Byram Hills students enlisted the student government to help promote their project and encouraged the use of simple terms like “oops” and “ouch” as active responses to bullying language. Their team recognized that it is often the areas with the least amount of adult supervision – playgrounds, cafeterias, buses, and the like – that have the most potential to be unsafe spaces. They wore T-shirts reading, “The bully isn’t the only one with power. Your words can make a difference.”  They also sponsored a kindness week and were able to report a considerable increase in acts of kindness and a decrease in bullying incidents. Students shared their findings with the entire community.

Irvington students reported how “important and valued” they felt at training workshops. In preparation for surveying the student body, the Irvington team hosted a breakfast for school staff and teachers to explain their goals, and an assembly for the student body. As a result, the entire school understood the importance of the survey. Among other things, they hosted an Upstander Week, had students sign a pledge to be upstanders, and distributed green and white “IMS Upstander” bracelets. During the week, students attached Post It notes to a mural to recognize upstanding behavior like helping someone who is being bullied or saying something positive to another student to help build their self-esteem.