ELEMENTARY Essentials
STICK TOGETHER™ ANTIBULLYING PROGRAM TAMMY WAGNER, EdD
S
tick Together™ is a free, character-education program offered to schools by Project Love and Duck Tape®. The program provides a fun and different way for students to explore the important social-emotional learning concepts of kindness and sticking together to combat bullying and negative behaviors.
Stick Together™ was developed with schools in mind. Their team has taken into consideration the small amount of extra time schools and organizations have to provide special programs by creating a short, easy-to-implement program design. It is packaged so that it can be presented in a 45- to 50-minute session using your own teachers, counselors, coaches, staff, or high school-age students as the program facilitators. It creates a new and interesting way for you to encourage a positive group climate in your building or program, inspiring a culture of kindness, caring and respect in your schools that will inevitably lead to success in the classroom, hallways, playgrounds, gyms, and more. The program is recommended for children in the age range of grades 2–6 but is available for any age group in your clubs, organizations, elementary, or K–8 building. Using a combination of tools, the program mixes large group discussion, video elements, hands-on activities, and a writing exercise to keep participants interested and engaged. The lesson culminates with participants pledging to “stick together” as they write their individual names on pieces of Duck Tape® and post them together on a provided banner. This banner can hold the pledges/ names of up to 150–200 students. After the program, the banner can be displayed prominently in your building as a constant reminder to be kind, caring and respectful to others. Project Love and Duck Tape® provide a step-by-step, how-to guide for your facilitator(s) along with the necessary handouts and materials. All you have to do is print the handouts and organize the program logistics by arranging the participants and room setup. My counselor and I had the opportunity to present this program in September 2017. We were very pleased with the overall message and outcomes for our school. We chose to present it to students in grades four and five in two small sessions, approximately 60 students each. The lesson materials were very easy to follow and were of good quality. Several weeks prior to the scheduled event, we were e-mailed a detailed program lesson plan. We printed copies for ourselves, watched the kindness chain video, and printed out copies of the writing activity for students. One week prior to the scheduled event we received a box of materials that included the following: several rolls of different-colored duct tape, stickers, a large vinyl poster with grommets, and bookmarks. On the day of the event, we hung the Stick Together™ poster up where it could be reached by students, set up chart paper to record student responses, and had our video screen down and tables set up with markers and small strips of duct tape. We presented the program following the General Program Outline with a few modifications: 1. Make introductions and welcome participants. 2. Brainstorm the definition of kindness and present a video—an example of how a Kindness Chain works at https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeVestInside?disable_polymer=true . 3. Practice a visioning exercise: What do you want your school or program to be like? 4. Participate in a large group discussion: Stick Together™—What does this mean? 5. Do the Duck Tape® Pledge and Banner Activity. 6. Do a writing activity: Personal Commitments. 7. Give away items.
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