The Network Marian High School
7400 Military Avenue Omaha, NE 68134
www.MarianHighSchool.net
Volume 59 Issue 2
October 2014
Fight for peace IDEAS members pose with the words “IDEAS anti-bullying week 2014” on their knuckles to symbolize their fight against bullying. Photo illustration by maevenelson
IDEAS club raises bullying prevention awareness mariavaladez
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or many, it is effortless to conclude that a bully is a mean-spirited person. While this could be true in certain situations, there are countless reasons as to why someone would turn to bullying. Who better to teach the student body these reasons than the Increasing Diversity and Equality Among Students (IDEAS) club? As October arrived and brought anti-bullying month into full swing, IDEAS undertook the project of dedicating a week to the education and awareness of bullying prevention. “I would like [Marian] girls to be aware of what bullying looks like for their generation of teenagers,” Counselor Ms. Kathy Janata said. “A lot of times, I think bullying still has that image of one person pushing another down on the playground or
several people ganging up against one person. I don’t always know if girls recognize all the facets of bullying.” “It includes things like gossiping, intimidating, and spreading rumors about people. I just want to make sure our girls are aware of what bullying really is and how hard it can be on people. I think bullying goes against the mission of Marian,” Janata, moderator of IDEAS, said. “We’re supposed to be kind to one another, have each other’s back, and be compassionate and sensitive, and we don’t always do that. All of us need to be reminded how to use social media in a kind way,” Janata said. Social media plays a considerable part among other factors in bullying, especially for teenagers of this generation. In 2010, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services of Nebraska more than 20 percent of Nebraska high schoolers reported being electronically bullied. Before starting off the week, IDEAS members adorned their club bulletin board by the BLUEtique with the theme “cyberbullying,” in recognition of the transitional shift bullying has taken. The bulletin board incorporated examples of how bullying is present in social platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, and texting. On Oct. 13, the anti-bullying campaign kicked off with students signing an anti-bullying pledge during their lunch periods. Students were able to read statistics relating to bullying in the bathroom stalls and in homerooms. See IDEAS: Page 7
71% 19% Do you believe bullying is more of or less of an issue in high school compared to middle school?* Less of an issue 71% More of an issue 19% *Based on the response of 31% of students
International Servite Schools Network meets at Marian emilybashus & samchaney
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t the beginning of October, things were a little different at Marian. Walking down the hallways, students could hear accents varying from Australian to French. The International Servite Schools Network (ISSN) conference was taking place Sept. 29 to Oct. 3. Students from France, Australia, and California attended this conference in Omaha. Adult delegates from India, Australia, France, Belgium, Mexico and the United Kingdom attended the conference
Next Conference: 2017-2018 Paris, France
Join the new ISSN club for more information and to become more involved in the network
as well. There were 13 students from other Servite schools in the conference, along with five Marian girls. At the conference, the students and teachers discussed what direction the ISSN would take in the future and how Servite schools can help each other. “We discussed ways to improve the ISSN program through all of the international schools. I learned about more schools across the world, for example, schools in South America and Mexico. We have also discussed ways to help our schools in India and the Congo,” senior Brooklynn Venteicher said. [There is not an exact count of how many Servite schools exist around the world because,] ISSN Coordinator Mrs. Kim Remmick said, “The Servite education charism is growing daily.” One thing that was determined at the conference was that the Servite schools would implement ISSN clubs within the next few weeks. This will allow the action plans that the student delegates came up with during the conference to be carried out more diligently. Students who have not yet
Art from across the world The students from all over the globe pose with the banners they created for Mass on Oct 2. Students from Servite High in California, Blanche de Castille in France and Servite College in Austrailia were in attendence. Photo by maevenelson attended an exchange or attended an ISSN conference will still be invited to join the club. Senior Mary Woodruff hosted Brooke Stoer, who was visiting from Australia, during the week, and was also was a Marian representative in the conference. Woodruff said
she enjoyed being part of both the conference and hosting a student even though it was quite stressful. “I definitely recommend doing both, however, it takes a lot of dedication with ISSN and planning ahead with your teachers to make the week less See ISSN: Page 3
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