Uniting Communities for Kindness, Acceptance and Inclusion
I was honored to be a part of this celebration in which an amazing community organization, JCI Shakopee (MN), inspired students to get involved with the important cause of addressing bullying and building kindness, acceptance and inclusion!
Thank you for the generous donation to PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center. Most importantly congratulations to the all the student honorees who used their voices to create safer communities. Kudos to JCI Shakopee for their leadership on this important issue!
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Narrative below provided by JCI Shakopee
Bullying is a topic that should be brought to the forefront of conversation within our community. In September, The JCI Shakopee partnered with the Shakopee school district and PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center to tackle the tough subject. Together they brought the bullying essay contest back to Shakopee's 4th-6th graders. The contest was held during Shakopee School’s Anti-Bullying week. To address bullying in its many forms, it is important to have a full understanding of what bullying means, how it manifests itself, and how we can prevent bullying in the future. By encouraging students to make personal commitments to critically think about the problem, the program ultimately seeks to empower them to break the cycles of violence .
The essays answered tough questions like: “What effects do you feel bullying has on others and on our society?” and “What do you believe are the reasons that cause people to bully others?” Students were asked to identify forms of bullying as well as offer solutions to the problem. On October 1st, students submitted essays to be judged by a panel of volunteers from JCI Shakopee. On November 17th, JCI Shakopee and the National Bullying Prevention Center held an awards ceremony to honor all 9 of the winners. Three winners from each grade were chosen to receive a Medal, Certificate, and a Prize from one of many local businesses.
For more information about the JCI Shakopee you can visit their website www.shakopeejaycees.com or visit JCI USA at www.jci.cc
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