Category Archives: ontario school assemblies

Henderson Avenue School Welcomes Speaker, Bruce Langford

Henderson Avenue Welcome Mural

The welcome mural in the office at Henderson Avenue Public School in Thornhill Ontario, welcomes all nationalities. Henderson Avenue School extends its friendship and goodwill to all people, regardless of their culture or heritage.

Respect is alive and well at Henderson and consistent examples of respectful behaviour are seen on a regular basis throughout the school.

Here is a respect tip I would like to share:
Never let a mean situation go by without doing your part. Here are five possibilities:

Speak up and ask the person to stop.
Change the subject or redirect the topic to something else.
Tell a supportive adult you trust.
Talk to a friend about what happened.
Share some words of support later with the person who was being picked on.

Henderson Avenue Public School, Thornhill Ontario

Today we presented ‘Stand Up For Respect’, ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ and ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ at Henderson Avenue Public School. After the assemblies, grade 6 teacher, Ms. Shannon Ostilly commented:

“We were very happy with all three assemblies by Stand Up Now Productions. Thanks so much for coming to Henderson Avenue!”

Be an Upstander, Not a Bystander

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Garden Avenue Junior School, Toronto

Garden Avenue Public School, Toronto is a respectful school filled with great kids who understand the meaning of community. These students look out for each other and encourage each other. They understand the importance of speaking up. They know a bystander is a person who sees or hears mean things, but does nothing about it. Don’t be a bystander, do something if you see meanness. Talk to the person later, tell a teacher or encourage your friends to do the right thing.

The majority of Garden Avenue Junior School students know to …

Be an Upstander, not a bystander!

A story from an anonomous contributor:

It happened nearly twenty years ago.

I saw him do it. I witnessed it with my own eyes.

He knew I saw him, but then afterwards, I swore I saw nothing.

I was afraid. I thought I should keep quiet. I thought that would support my friend.

I was wrong.

Living a lie is never the right thing to do.

I could have quietly gone to a trusted adult and reported what I saw.

It would have been the right thing to do. It would have been the responsible, respectable thing to do.

We shared a story with the Garden Avenue students today. The story was about a girl who felt terrible about someone she had bullied at a past school. She decided to do something about it. She decided to share her message with the world, about how awful a person can feel who has actually bullied someone.

Garden Avenue students obviously felt empathy for the girl as we shared the story.

Be caring. Be sensitive. Be empathetic. Be an upstander, not a bystander!

Stand Up Against Bullying, whenever you can.

Garden Avenue Junior Public School Principal, Ms. Martha Peterson constantly encourages her students to show respect, make the right choices, and be ‘upstanding’ citizens. Be inspired by Garden Avenue; be an upstander!

Toronto Middle School Welcomes Cyberbullying Guest Speaker, Bruce Langford at their Annual Safe And Caring Schools Student Conference

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Willowdale Middle School in Toronto featured their Annual Safe and Caring Schools Student Conference today. Bruce Langford started the day by presenting a session to grade 6 and 7 students called ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’. The presentation was about how to stand up against cyberbullying. The Children’s Peace Theatre presented a hands-on workshop at the same time with grade 8 students. Willowdale Middle School students did a skit about how some kids feel pressured to have lots and lots of ‘friends’ on social network sites like Facebook. The girl in the skit told her friend to ‘just add random people so you don’t look like a loser’. She did decide to add someone she didn’t know, and was taking the risk that it could turn out to be an internet predator. In another skit, the police got involved when someone turned out to be posing as someone else online. Students were tuned in to the role-plays and commented about their effectiveness.

Willowdale Principal, Mrs. Angela Caccamo said: “Bruce Langford’s Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies were excellent. I will spread the word to my colleagues.”

The point was made that every middle school student can do something to make sure that cyberbullying does not exist and grow in a school environment. We can all agree; Cyberbullying’s Got 2 Go! Contact Bruce Langford at 1-800-901-8831 (www.atfm.ca) for more information.

Stop Bullying Behaviours by Using 3 Powerful Dragon Qualities

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Norwich School Students Use Dragon Qualities to Stop Bullying situations. We visited Norwich Public School, home of the dragons on Friday. Dragons

Famous Norwich Public School Dragon

are believed to be strong, sensitive and brave. These are the very attributes needed by a person who will ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’. Bystanders stand by while mean things are said or done. A ‘stand-upper ‘ will use the dragon qualities of strength, sensitivity and bravery to ‘stand up against bullying’. Children should never be expected to deal with these issues alone though. Adults need to be right there to encourage children whenever necessary. Teachers, administrators, support staff and children can all work together to stand up against bullying and make sure no one suffers because of bullying.

Encourage and model respect and as a result bullying will automatically begin to disappear . You will experience respect at Norwich Public School (Thames Valley District School Board) where we presented ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assemblies. Students from Otterville Public School and North Norwich Public School joined together with the Norwich Public School students to learn ways to show respect. Role-plays, videos and songs all helped children understand how to grow respect.
Be like the dragon; use your strength, sensitivity and bravery to stand up against bullying;
be a ‘stand-upper’ and Stand Up For Respect!

Bruce Langford of ‘Stand Up Now’ Productions will visit your school to present bullying prevention programs. Contact him at 1-800-901-8831 or visit the website at www.standupnow.ca

Sarnia Area School is determined to reduce bullying with Student Seminar

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Sarnia Area School Peaceful School Pledge

Hillcrest Peaceful School Pledge

The Hillcrest Peaceful School pledge is posted in the gym in a huge green peaceful school tree. The students and staff hear it every morning on the announcements.
It reads:
I attend a peaceful school.
It is my responsibility to play safe
and not say or do anything that hurts anyone’s body, feelings or things.
I respect myself.
I respect others.
I respect property.

The students showed that respect yesterday as we presented two anti-bullying seminars to the students. Hillcrest teachers gave Stand Up Now Productions top marks in their feedback reports saying they would definitely encourage other Sarnia area schools in the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) to host our Stand Up Against Bullying seminars. Teacher/Presenter, Bruce Langford was extremely pleased with the student response to the skits, videos and music.

Hillcrest Public School, Petrolia

Students at Hillcrest Public School really do care about being a peaceful school!

A Bully of a Storm Hammers Southern Ontario Closing Thousands of Schools

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Finch Avenue Public School Sign

Sometimes storms strike with no apparent reason. The same thing can be true with bullying. A bullying incident can happen suddenly taking everyone by surprise. Maybe it was triggered by anger, jealousy or resentment. Maybe someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe someone had a bad day.
Just like a snow storm, bullying can catch us off guard and cause a lot of disruptions, inconveniences and upset.

Finch Avenue Public School Building, Toronto

There is one major difference though. We can learn to end bullying. We can council our children and teach bystanders how to change the direction of bullying incidents. Do this by changing the subject, moving to another location, or just speaking up in a confident way with a non-confrontational request to leave the person alone.
Today at Finch Avenue Public School in Toronto, the students were completely captured with the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ presentations. They learned how bystanders can make a difference. They joined in with the songs and were totally tuned in to a music video called ‘The Wall’.
We can’t change a snow storm, but we can reduce bullying. Remember to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’. Contact Bruce Langford to book assemblies with DJ Benny DL at your school: www.standupagainstbullying.com

How friends can reduce cyber-bullying at Howard Public School, Toronto

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Students at Howard Public School in Toronto have their own ideas about how to stand up against bullying. They believe that their friends can help them and that people should stand by their friends. We talked about ways that people can support each other and how you sometimes need to talk with a teacher, a parent or another trusted adult. We saw a role-play about how bystanders can help. We talked about a video that encouraged empathy.

Howard Public School Outdoor Mosaic Mural

Principal, Mrs. Rosanna Sardella spoke highly of our ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies and said she would encourage other schools to host the assemblies.
Bruce Langford’s school assemblies are available for students from kindergarten to grade 8. www.standupagainstbullying.com

Remember, friends can stand up for each other. That can help reduce bullying!

How to teach children not to bully… (Peel School Board)

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Whitehorn Public School in Mississauga has some answers to this question. ‘Soaring to the Peak’ is an answer you will hear from the children. You see, Whitehorn Mountain is in Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. It is a 2,621 metre high mountain of pure natural beauty.

The students of Whitehorn School know they must strive to meet the challenge of ‘Soaring to the Peak’ by:

Participation
Effort
Achievement
Kindness

Q. What is a person called who sees and hears meanness, but they don’t do anything about it?

A. Scared.

That is the answer we heard yesterday from a student who watched a role-play in our ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assembly and felt empathy for the person being bullied. In the adult world, the correct answer to the question is ‘bystander’. Children need to know that a bystander is not a bad person. A bystander may not know what to do, or the incident may have happened so fast, they didn’t have time to react. It is important to teach children what bystanders can do to reduce bullying behaviours, but let’s not blame children for not stepping in when we also tell them to always look out for their safety.

Whitehorn Public School is a respectful place because people care. People know that teaching respect means modeling respect. Principal, Mrs. Margaret Patterson is a great example of how to nurture respect in a caring environment. Mrs. Patterson and her staff definitely ‘Soar to the Peak’ at Whitehorn Public School!

Student Bystanders Show Assembly Audience How to Stand Up Against Bullying

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We spent the day today with the students at Redstone Public School in Greater Toronto (Richmond Hill). We talked about the character trait of the month, which for January is optimism. We talked about bullying, the bystander, and how to deal with real-life bullying situations. The students learned by watching scenarios acted out by grade 7 and 8 students. We watched videos and listened to music. The students clapped and cheered at appropriate times and then later were silent when someone was left out of a game during a role-play. The students had empathy for that one person not picked for the team.

Obviously, the teachers and students care about the right things at Redstone School. They care about treating each other with respect and dignity. The Redstone Creed is called their Touchstone. Read it here. What do you think?

The Redstone Public School Touchstone
At Redstone Public School, we respect ourselves, others and our environment. We are responsible for what we say and what we do. We speak up for ourselves, and others and and we include everyone in all activities.
We treat all people equally and we help others without being asked. We never give up, no matter how difficult the task. At Redstone, everything is possible.
Optimism Quotes:
Optimism is the tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view.
Oxford English Dictionary

The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.
Unknown

What seems to us as bitter trials, are often blessings in disguise.
Oscar Wilde

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

Redstone Public School Building

School Respect Assemblies in Waterloo Region by Presenter Bruce Langford

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Stand Up For Respect was the theme of the day at Waterloo school, N.A. MacEachern Public School (WRDSB).

Students shared their ideas on how the world can be a more respectful place. One student said, “If only people would just remember to be nice to each other all the time”. Another spoke about the importance of manners. Yet another reminded the audience to be optimistic, and how optimism can help keep people positive.

Students said they liked the song ‘Confidence ‘ and wanted to know if they could download it on itunes. They said they loved the role-plays acted out by their peers.

Ms. Maedith Radlein, Principal of MacEachern, told us she was very pleased with the assemblies and liked how each assembly was designed for that age group. She liked the discussion format with the grade 7 & 8 students. “I will definitely be a reference for your Stand Up Now programs,” she told us.