A new club of sorts formed at Welches Middle School and it doesn’t have
anything to do with sports, games or activities – but they did get a cool
bracelet for joining.

Every student at a Jan. 20 special assembly signed up to stomp out bullying.
The bracelet is “sort of a symbol ... if you’re a victim or if you’ve ever been
bullied, we have your back,” said Anais Pedersen, 13, a seventh grade
student.

“We’re making a commitment to try and wipe it out totally from this school
because this is a really great school. We want to make this a fun place.”

Pedersen and four other student council members spearheaded the anti-
bullying campaign, featuring activities such as having crazy hair to scare away

bullies, wearing boots to stomp out bullying and culminating with the
assembly.

The hope is that by raising the awareness of the issue and focusing on
supporting each other, they all can create an even better atmosphere at
school.

“This is mostly our community and where we hang out; it’s nice to keep it
thoughtful of others and not being on the bullying rude side,” said eighth
grader Garrett Morgan, 13. “I think this will really bring kids (to) stand up for
others.”

“It’s really good to know that we’re helping people feel safer here and feel like
they belong here rather than they don’t want to be here and they dread being
here,” added Bianca Blanshine, 13, a seventh grader. “Because we spend a lot
of our time here; we spend more time here than at our house.”

The program began last semester at the staff level and earlier this semester
teacher Chris Williamson brought the idea to the student council, who ran with
it. While no specific incident of bullying inspired the students to take action,
they are aware that it exists.

“I’ve never seen the bullying as much as I’ve heard about it,” Blanshine said.
Williamson added that despite the fact that bullying exists the focus is to
create a supportive atmosphere at the school, not concentrating on punishing
the offenders.

“I think it’s the realization that it’s a fact of life, unfortunately, in school and
we’re not immune to it,” he said. “As long as we remember that it’s something
that can affect us and we’re proactive about doing something before it
becomes an issue, we’ll come out ahead of the curve, hopefully.”

The process also helped students discover their teachers can be valuable
assets when it comes to battling bullies.

“So many people think that the teachers are not here for them, and that if we
tell them, they’re not even going to hear us,” said Hannah Schmidt, 13, an
eight grader. “It’s nice to know that they have our backs.”

In turn, Williamson pointed to his students’ efforts as an encouraging sign.
“Any time students feel empowered and want to be an agent for positive
change, that’s where the win comes in for us,” Williamson said. “It’s a great
situation.”