Skip to main content

Governor's Anti-Bullying Summit

Governor’s Anti-Bullying Summit

Today, I joined fellow colleagues, our fearless leader, Mr. Pedersen, and about 20 students from the amazing Cardinal Community School District for the Governor’s Anti-Bullying Summit.  If you recall the Fourth Grade Bully Busters submitted a video for the Governor’s Anti-Bullying Video Contest early last month.  Today was the day we learned the results of that contest.

The speakers at the conference were powerful, and motivating.  There were many great points made about bullying and how we must all stand up to help prevent this type of behavior in our schools.  I loved the quote,  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent.” This was a quote by Martin Luther King Jr., and it is every bit applicable today, as it was when he stood up, for the oppression individuals faced in our country not so long ago. 

Nobody wants to be labeled a bully, but we all have the power to be one or to stand against one. It does not matter who you are or where you come from it is something we must all realize is subjective experience.  Just as we are all different people, we also handle bullying in a different way. There may be some who see the same incident as bullying and others who will see it as irrelevant. Therefore, we must teach our kids to not only be themselves, but they must also allow others to be who they are.  Tolerance is a giant step in the right direction.

We heard moving speeches from victims of bullying, a parent of a child who was killed through violence, and an amazing singer/songwriter from Boston. The singer started performing during her 7th grade year, and performs all over the country.  She is now a high school student, and delivers her message using the voice God gave her. The stories and panels were very good about answering questions and making us all feel like a part of “the story.”

Admittedly, my most exciting moment of the day was seeing our 4th grade video being played on the big screen for all the schools and attendees. We were in the top ten finalists. I cannot put into words the swell of love, respect and pride I had for my kids in that moment. They worked so incredibly hard on this video project, and are still carrying the bully buster message on daily.  We were not one of the top three winners, but we definitely won so much more than the title today.

In fact, I was approached by a few of our high school attendees because they would like to develop a program infusing the older kids into the elementary as leaders. They want to reach out and help create a positive environment for our younger students. The high school leaders would like to give the elementary students problem-solving skills so they can better cope in a bully type situation.  So, in my book we won today. We were victorious because we brought back more than a certificate of accomplishment. We are coming back empowered, driven and motivated to be the change.


I am so blessed to be part of such an energized, positive and wonderful community! WAY TO GO CARDINAL BULLY BUSTERS!!!!!!!!!!!   


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eviction Notice: Buella (Cancer), You Have Been Served!

Dear Buella, This is your notice that you are being permanently evicted from the premises, also known as my body, effective July 1. You have exceeded the number of recommended days to be in residence by more than 30 days; therefore, you will forcibly be removed so you can no longer wreak havoc upon the landscape of our lives. - Management / Allie Dear Family and Friends, On July 1st, I will have a double mastectomy and begin reconstructive surgery. Buella, the name I gave my tumor, has been served her eviction notice after 70+ days since detection, and we are grateful to have a date scheduled.  However, I do keep trying to convince Gavin that traveling to the Amalfi Coast for pasta and coffee would do wonders for healing cancer instead. If you have a study that supports my hypothesis, please share it with me, as I have read at least 50 research articles and a few books about cancer in the past month and have yet to find a correlation or causation study about the benefits of authent...

God Winks: Finding Buella (Cancer)

2025 has been a transformative year for our family, marked by health challenges, faith, and divine moments I call "God winks"—those undeniable signs of God's love, plan, and provision. These moments, woven together, led to the discovery of "Buella," a breast cancer diagnosis that could have gone unnoticed without God's guidance. Here's our story —a testament to His presence, even in the unseen parts of our lives.    In October, Gavin moved back to Alaska as he was asked to take Command,  and Lilyan and I stayed to complete the school year. We are used to separations with the military, but we both dislike this part of the life we have embraced for over 20 years. However, praise God for technology as we were able to Facetime and connect every night. Due to the time difference, he would call as he was heading home for the night and I was getting ready to go to sleep. It was manageable, even if it was challenging to be apart. In December, I lost a friend and...

Spoiler Alert: I Have Breast Cancer

I never thought this would be my view one day. No one ever really considers it when they are healthy, eat well, exercise, and avoid most things that do damage to the beautiful temple God created in the human body. However, this powerful perspective became my reality today, as I met with a medical oncologist, a surgical oncologist, and a radiology oncologist for a recent diagnosis of breast cancer.   I realize this is probably a shock to many of you, as it was to our family; however, there are so many God winks in this story that I do not feel I can keep it to myself. God has a way of turning the most seemingly awful things into a beautiful blessing, and I have already witnessed His abundant love in the past month of medical screenings, testing, and waiting. I am not clear on what the future holds, but this year, I had already decided to let go and let God, and I am experiencing the goodness, grace, and peace that comes from truly honoring that commitment.  I plan to wri...