Fort Washington Elementary No Place for Bullying

For the third consecutive year, officially has no place for hate.

The nearly 500 students and faculty of FWES celebrated the school’s re-designation as a ‘No Place for Hate’ participant in a special ceremony last week, attended by Lisa Friedlander, No Place for Hate project director. The ceremony honored the school’s students and faculty for having completed another year of anti-bias and anti-bullying programs.

“Anti-bullying in all its forms has been a focus at Fort Washington for 12 years now. When we heard about this program we jumped on board,” said Fort Washington Elementary School Counselor Debbie Einhorn.  “We joined the program in 2006; there are 160 schools in PA that participate in this program. They, like we did, saw a need to make sure we are creating an environment where kids are safe and accepted to be successful with academics.”

To earn this distinction, Fort Washington Elementary School formed a No Place for Hate committee, adopted a resolution pledging to create a more inclusive school and implemented a number of projects promoting respect for differences.

Projects completed over the past year include participation in No Place for Hate Week, where students wrote essays about what they could do to stand up to bullying behavior; training of all staff and fifth grade students through the Anti-Defamation League’s ‘A World of Difference’ program; and an African-American Read-In, where teachers, parents, high school students, and community members were invited into the classrooms during African-American history Month to read books authored by African-Americans.

This is the third consecutive year that Fort Washington Elementary School has received the No Place for Hate designation.

“We really do see the kids as taking a more inclusive, less exclusive attitude as a result of this program,” said Einhorn. “The daily message and monthly activities reinforce this program and encourage the kids and remind them that to be successful, they need to be respectful and celebrate all areas of diversity.”

Einhorn says that since the school formally adopted the program in 2006, many students have transitioned on to the middle and high school, taking with them the values and knowledge of acceptance that they gained from the program.

“I think the greatest impact of this program is that each year, we are reaffirming the beliefs and efforts and celebrating our diversity, keeping it fresh in our minds that this is what makes us a great community,” said Einhorn.

According to Einhorn, bullying is more than just pushing or name-calling.

“Bullying takes a variety of forms, and this program helps our students identify what bullying is and empower them,” Einhorn said. “If a student sees another student left out or upset, they know how to be their ally and help them. The skills they learn evolve each year.”

on last week's visit by cyber-bullying speaker John Halligan, who tours the country to help prevent bullying after his son Ryan took his own life in 2003.