Today's young people are remarkable. They are resilient, strong, adaptable individuals, and never has that been more evident to me than during yesterday's "Challenge Day" activities hosted by North High School. Challenge Day is a program that has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, and has been around for more than twenty years. North hosted two days of the event last year, and we thought it was so powerful that we brought it back again. Essentially it is a day long program that challenges participants to look past superficial differences in others to achieve a greater realization that we are all more alike than we are different, and that we need the support of those around us to maximize our potential as people. I know...sounds warm and fuzzy, psychobabble"ish", and a little too much like a mix of Jack Handey and Matt Foley, motivational speaker - except it's not. It is a life altering experience for those who participate.
Last year we had two hundred students from North in the program - one hundred different students each day. We did the same this year, with all new attendees. During last year's program I spent the good part of both days at the event, but this year, decided to participate fully as an adult facilitator during yesterday's first day. It would be very difficult to do the program justice for anyone who has not gone through it, but it is a roller coaster of emotions. The facilitators get students to laugh together, and cry together. At the end of the day, students "speak out" and talk about their experiences and their challenges to one another to make the school and the world better places. It's impressive and inspirational to hear these young people open their hearts and minds.
Students share some very powerful things about themselves and their lives. One of the goals of Challenge Day is to get everyone to realize that below the surface, and the facade we present for each other, we are all dealing with issues. One of the things the kids realize, and in a very powerful way during an activity called the "power shuffle" is that many of them have the same struggles in common. They may be of different ethnicity, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender or social clique, but beneath those superficialities, are very real human emotions that are universal. Students step outside of their comfort zones, and reach out to others who they might never have known, seen or talked to prior to the day. At the end, after a lot of laughter, tears and hugs, they walk out sharing a common bond, and a desire to "be the change" they want to see in the world.
It is staggering to hear and see the struggles some of our young people are going through, and have to handle just to get through a day, let alone function as a productive student in a rigorous, socially challenging school environment. It is heroic that some of them manage to come to school every day in the face of their individual issues. Sometimes we see the outward expression of a young person's anger and frustration and wonder how anyone could act so poorly - Challenge Day gives some insight into why people act out. More importantly, Challenge Day gives kids a solution for helping each other - "Notice, Choose, and Act". Notice other people, their problems and their pain, choose to help, and act on that choice by being there, reaching out, practicing random acts of kindness, and offering a simple greeting, kind word or hug.
If your son or daughter attended Challenge Day, ask them about their experiences. If they didn't, encourage them to pursue it next year. To learn more about the Challenge Day program, and its "Be the Change" motto, visit http://www.challengeday.org . Be the Change!!
The Principal's Office is a blog created by Tim Bearden, Chief Academic Officer and Upper School Director at Detroit Country Day School, an independent school in Beverly Hills, MI. While content will sometimes be specific to Country Day, the majority of posts are specific in scope to issues concerning teaching and learning in the 21st century.
2 comments:
Thanks for writing about Challenge Day. This sounds like an excellent program. Is there a way for all students to participate?
At this point we're looking into ways to give our entire student body the experience. The Challenge Day program suggests no more than 100 students per day. We ran two days last year, and two this year. Not counting seniors who graduated last year, we have approx. 375 students at North who have been through the program, and more than forty adults. The program is expensive, and we are grateful to the Grosse Pointe Educational Foundation for funding this year's event. We believe so strongly in teh program that we want every student and adult in out building to participate, so we're looking at ways to make that happen. Thanks for your interest!
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