SeDo. in the midst of No Name Calling Week

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — From Jan. 19-23 schools and organizations across the county will mark No Name Calling Week with activities to focus on the problems of students calling their peers hurtful names and provide educators with the tools and inspirations to launch an ongoing dialogue about ways to eliminate the problem in their communities.

    The SeDoMoCha School will be among the groups taking part. “It’s next week, Tuesday to Friday,’ middle school Guidance Counselor Jennifer Towle said on Jan. 16, mentioning the ensuing Monday would be the Martin Luther King Day holiday. “It’s being done K-8.”
    “We are wearing different clothing,” Towle said about one No Name Calling Week activity. Each of the four days has a theme with students and staff encouraged to wear boots on Tuesday to “kick name calling to the curb”; dressing in sports attire on Wednesday as “we are all on the same team, be a good sport”; “I like hue” with each of the nine grades having a different color to wear; and “put a lid on name calling” set for Friday with hats allowed to be worn inside the building.
    “We also came up with a theme for the week, which is superheroes,” Towle said. She explained that everyone has a super power that makes them unique, with laminated signs being made for all of the teachers to hang on the their doors — complete with a Superman ‘S’ on an apple.
    Towle said the middle school’s Civil Rights Team, which has a mission of increasing student safety and reducing incidents of bias-motivated harassment and violence in school, will be hosting a superhero-themed dance on Friday evening. She said students are encouraged to attend in costume — receiving a discount on admission if dressed this way — and superhero masks will be on sale. A photo booth will be set up to capture moments from the evening, which is the largest single fundraiser for the Civil Rights Team.
    “The kids have been super excited about the dance with a superhero theme. They started selling the masks today,” Towle said. She explained the masks, to cover the wearer’s eyes, include such figures as Batman, Iron Man and Captain America.
    During the school day will be various No Name Calling Week activities, including, what Towle called, “Don’t call names, play games.” She said for half an hour each day every homeroom will take time and play one of several games.
    “These are team-building games designed to get the whole class together,” Towle said, as opposed to board games played by just a few students.
    Consulting a list of suggested picture book titles related to the week’s goals, Towle said middle-schoolers would be reading some of these selections to elementary pupils. “We are also going to have some special songs at the end of announcements,” Towle said. She said these selections will all be friendship-type songs, such as “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the film “Toy Story.”
    Towle said 25 students between grades 5-8 make up the Civil Rights Team. She said the team meets weekly and has taken part in a training session held at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer.