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“One person can make an impact. If we can get that person
to view things differently, it can make a difference.” - Lacy Abbott
Challenge
Day aims to change the climate of a school and organizers for the
program at Yosemite High School are “hoping that it will be as successful
as it was last year.”
Lacy Abbott, a senior who is coordinating Challenge Day for her Senior
Project, says “it is amazing to see the change that has occurred from
last year.”
Challenge Day will be held on the YHS campus February 24 and 25. There
will be 100 student participants each day along with school staff
and members of the community.
Community members are invited to participate either day. Abbott points
out that anyone who attends Chal-lenge Day must stay for the entire
program, 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Those wanting more information can call YHS Health Teacher Nancy Lusby
at 683-4667 ext. 289 or Earlene Ward at 683-8801 ext. 338. The deadline
to sign up is February 10.
Challenge Day was held for the first time at YHS last year. Participants
indicated that it was amazing to see that they were not alone in their
problems and that both teens and adults shared the same problems and
concerns.
“The main goal for Challenge Day,”Abbott says, “is to get real with
each other. Teens and adults often times think they are the only people
who have a problem. By attending Challenge Day they have the opportunity
to find out they are not the only ones who have a given problem and
there are many people out there going through the same thing.”
Abbott goes on to explain that Challenge Day is aimed at breaking
down barriers and social cliques that are so prominent in high school.
According to the program Teen Files, Abbott says, 75 percent of high
school students are teased or made fun of on a daily basis.
“High school is about popularity, social status and how you dress,”
Abbott comments. “People decide who they want to associate with by
what they wear and what they look like.”
Abbott says “it’s horrible” the way students focus on what someone
wears rather than who they are.
“One person can make an impact. If we can get that person to view
things differently, it can make a difference,” she says. However,
she admits that changes won’t happen overnight.
Abbott emphasizes that Challenge Day is not just for teenagers: “It’s
also for the community, anyone who is interested is welcome,” she
says. “Everyone who attends must participate and everyone, students
and adults alike, participate on the same level. This allows teens
to view adults from a different perspective and vice-versa.”
Lusby is the staff coordinator for the event. She is assisted by Abbott
and by students in her Peer Com-munication class and students who
are in the Peer Mediator program.
It costs ap-proximately $10,000 to have the program at the school
for two days. Funds for the program come from donations and, this
year, from a $3,000 grant the school received through the Madera County
Public Health Department.
The students participated in the Christmas Tree Auction in 2002 and
2003 to help raise funds for the event. They visit businesses and
make presentations to service clubs in an effort to raise money.
“It is absolutely amazing to see how giving the community is,” Abbott
says.
Anyone interested in making a contribution toward the program can
contact Lusby at 683-4667 ext. 289 or Ward at 683-8801 ext. 338.
Abbott sums up Challenge Day by saying “It is a wonderful opportunity.
We’re very lucky we have the chance to utilize a program like this
at our school and for our community. It doesn’t only benefit the high
school, it benefits the community because the things we learn are
things we will carry with us forever.”
School
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