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Students take the Challenge
By Mary Madewell
Published November 1, 2009
“It helped me and I think it will be good for our school,” Paris High School sophomore Christopher Ray said Wednesday upon leaving a Challenge Day experience in the high school gymnasium. “This is something you can take with you the rest of your life.”
During a three-day period, about 300 students, from eighth through twelfth grade, along with 75 adults spent a day with Challenge Day leaders Christopher Foster and Katie Salvage, both of Concord, Calif. Financed partly by United Way, the team came to Paris sponsored by the Diversity Task Force.
Following a series of morning team-building activities each day, the two challenged students to talk openly with others about their feelings and to refrain from usual peer pressure tactics — bullying, teasing and gossip.
Students freely shared intermost feelings during afternoon sessions.
“I look for you to be there for me,” one student said Tuesday after challenging his classmates to “love each other, trust each other and treat each other the way you want to be loved, trusted and treated.”
Team leaders promoted self esteem and respect.
“When we feel good about ourselves we don’t feel the need to hurt other people; we are too busy feeling good,” Salvage told the group.
Foster talked about “real power.”
“Real power is when you show love, compassion and respect,” Foster said. “You can’t be measured by the color of your skin; you can’t be measured by who your friends are.”
Adult facilitator Mary Clark, co-chairperson of the Diversity Task Force, expressed satisfaction Tuesday following a session with juniors and seniors.
“I was hopeful when I went in and they have validated that,” Clark said. “They hit on the ways we have to separate ourselves — race, sex, religion, wealth, family home situations — and none of those should be reasons we are divided.”
Paris Independent School District board president Dave Eisele tagged the program “absolutely incredible.”
“It provided an opportunity for the kids to share, to forgive and to learn more about each other,” Eisele said. “It would be good for some of the local community to go through this. It is a powerful program.”
Before leaving the gymnasium, Foster told students, “Challenge Day really begins when you go out those doors.”
“Do you feel better today than you did yesterday?” he asked. “When you go to school tomorrow keep what you feel today.”
On Thursday, a group of eighth grade students, who participated in the program on Monday seemed motivated.
“I thought Challenge Day was good,” Tymondre Robinson said. “I would have never thought that some people would become friends, but after Challenge Day they did. I was surprised with the change.
I think we should get the whole school together for a Challenge Day.”
And Sara Ralson had this to say, “Challenge Day was the best day I have every had. If all our students could go we would have the best school ever.”
Travis counselor Merita Head made the following observation.
“After Challenge Day, during lunch several of our students sat with other students they do not normally associate with,” she said. “It was truly impressive and heart warming to see this occur. I was impressed with the initiative of our eighth graders to make the move to go and eat at another table with someone else. In the eighth grade world this is a huge move.”
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