Be the Change – Oroville youth and community take the challenge

By Gary DeVon • November 5, 2012 10:13 am
Tags: , , , ,
Oroville Staff exhibit their best dance moves to the delight of their students at Challenge Day.
Challenge Day
Two hundred Oroville Junior High and High School Students participated in Challenge Day

OROVILLE – Oroville Junior/Senior High School held Challenge Day, an all-day experiential workshop, on Oct. 10 and 11 for all seventh through tenth grade students.

Oroville Booster Club, GEAR UP, Oroville Junior High ASB and Oroville School District all contributed funds to make this experience possible. In addition, many volunteers were recruited from the community to provide the adult support necessary to make Challenge Day a positive experience.

Oroville Staff exhibit their best dance moves to the delight of their students at Challenge Day.

Since 1987, Challenge Day has served more than one million youths worldwide. The overall goals of the program are to increase personal power and self-esteem, to shift dangerous peer pressure to positive peer support. Challenge Day programs are designed to unite the members of the school and community and to empower them to carry the themes of the program back to the greater school population. Challenge Days also successfully address issues of violence, teasing, social oppression, racism, harassment, conflict management, suicide, peer pressure, alcohol and drugs.

Challenge Day has been featured on Oprah and been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. It has been conducted in secondary schools across the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and other distant places. Challenge Day powerfully creates an atmosphere where every student can feel safe, loved, and celebrated, not just on Challenge Day, but every day that follows. The program fosters empathy, compassion and connection that set students free to get down to the serious business of learning.

The Oroville Challenge Day Committee has been working several months to get ready for this important event. Becky Arrigoni participated as a student representative on the committee and assisted in the planning and implementing of Challenge Day as part of her Senior Project. Arrigoni will organize a Be the Change club to carry the momentum of Challenge Day throughout the school year.

For more information about Challenge Day, check out the 15-minute video clip available at www.personalgrowthcourses.net/video/challenge_day or visit the web site: www.challengeday.org/

 

Tags: , , , ,