Breaking down the walls high school program

The goal? To help build a stronger sense of community within a school. Cabe worked with a group of about 70 student leaders and students per school. Each leader led a small group of workshop participants. South Sound high school also participated in a one day event of Breaking Down the Walls. Anthony Penarejo , a junior at Timberline High School, was a student leader. The next three workshop days involved participants coming into the gymnasium to take part in several activities designed to set a fun tone and comfort level for the day.

An example of this involved students passing paper balls around in a circle where each was challenged to say and remember the names of those in their group. After a morning of these activities, the afternoon takes a more serious note, and students have the opportunity to think about the kinds of struggles they and their peers have faced. Students then reflect on the experience and debrief with one another. Breaking Down the Walls is meant to bring schools together as a cohesive community, and to begin to build trust as a campus.

By bonding over group activities and reflecting seriously about the real-life challenges so many people face, it can unite students and staff around building a community that supports and uplifts all of its members. The program is designed to affect each schools entire campus, despite the small portion of student body participants. The visions is that students will talk about their experiences, allowing them to pass their newly acquired knowledge onto their peers.

Each of the high schools plan to carry the Breaking Down the Walls movement throughout the year by organizing a group of staff and students who will brainstorm and enact projects and activities to continue to bring the student body closer together. After the second assembly, almost leaders were trained to become facilitators for the smaller workshops, which ran the rest of the week.

It was super nice having everyone there to support one another. Before the leaders took control of the workshops, everyone got into a large circle, where each participant met and talked to a handful of people.

With just about two minutes per partner, people had the chance to learn maybe one or two stories from this new person. Each leader was put into a group of about eight students and sometimes an adult and worked with that group throughout the entire process that day. With 32 years of experience, Boyte was able to take a not-so-interested crowd and make a complete turnaround when the workshops begun.

There were a few activities students did in the group as an icebreaker. These activities ranged from name games and asking questions, to screaming as loud as you can while the rest of the gym stared at the group. It seemed like they answered the question and that was it.

It turned to silence. After the group activities, lunch was provided and everyone sat with their groups. It was a time to have more casual talk before Boyte brought everyone back together. Cross the line started with simple questions about crossing if students were left handed or talented in certain ways, but then it got deeper. Slowly, Boyte took the conversation to family situations, fears, and personal struggles.

Participants were encouraged to look left, right, and across and notice who was standing with them and not. This helped students realize that they were truly not alone with what they were dealing with.

It was a way for students to share their stories with their peers and teachers, creating a connection around school. Haar and Boyte both hope the program could come every few years so new students can experience the events that just under kids experienced. Almost everyone carries a camera with them in the form of their phone, so photography is a skill that anyone can benefit Behind the Scenes of Early Released Seniors.

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