Madera Club YES Students attend Life Switch Bully Prevention Summit
What do middle school students, poetry and public service announcements have in common? The ability to communicate the value of kindness, respect and love to the community! This summer was busy for interested Club YES Grades 6 – 8 students. Last May, students were recruited for participation at the summit from their Club LIVE programs at the middle school or from their attendance at the Rachel’s Challenge Assembly.
On July 20th, Club YES middle school students from Desmond, La Vina, Martin 
Luther King, Jr., Thomas Jefferson and Sherman Thomas joined forces at the Life Switch Bullying Awareness Summit. Not only did students learn about the dynamics of bullying relationships, they also learned how to deal with situations in which they may be confronted by bullying behavior. Supplied with this knowledge, students participated in workshops to create projects that promote a message of kindness and respect in their communities.
The writing workshop allowed the students to use writing skills to express their feelings on the bullying issue. While some designed posters featuring their very own poems, others chose to create short 
stories on bullying situations.
The goal of the audio recording workshop was to develop audio public service announcements (PSA’s) such as those heard on the radio. Our students brainstormed messages and target audiences for which to base their recordings, leading to the production of two PSA’s.
Please click on the links below to check out the bullying awareness projects created by our Club YES middle school students at the Life Switch Summit below:
(each item will be linked to PDF versions of their posters or MP3 audio)
“Bully/Associate” – Devazhane Warren
“Friendly” – Isauro Avila
“Bullying” – Joel Diaz
“Stop Walk Talk” – Carson Hefner and Ricardo Perez
“Speak Up” – Allen Chavez, Ulysses Delgado and Jayvion Warren
“Think Before You Post” – Kristabell Soules and Yesenia Venegas
These student projects were used during the Club YES Welcome Back to School Staff Conference in August. Club YES staff were trained on how to implement 
the new bully prevention program --Expect Respect during the 2011-12 school year. In teaching the program at the elementary sites, the middle school projects will be used to help communicate the message of kindness and respect. Expect Respect is a bully prevention program designed to reduce bullying incidents by teaching students to recognize and choose respectful behavior at school.
Before you worry that these students spent the day at work with no play, you should know that the Summit was held at the John C. Wells Recreation Center. Students were able to play video games, basketball, and ping pong during breaks.
At lunchtime, Club YES brought the Climbing Wall over for students who were interested in the challenge of getting to the top of the wall! The day ended with a showcase of work and a promise to continue the work next year in the Club LIVE program offered to middle school students in Club YES. Not only was the Life Switch Summit a fun and interactive experience, it was also rewarding and educational for our Club YES students. This sentiment was emphasized when Kristabell Soules of Thomas Jefferson Middle School said, “This is really cool and fun! Everyone in Club YES should be doing this.”
If you know a student who is interested in participating in this effort, be sure to have them join the Club LIVE or Friends of Rachel Club at their Club YES After School Program.
