Reaching Across the Divide

Submitted by deon.youd on

It's time to REACH out to other people around you. That's the message students at Spanish Fork High School got this week as Character Counts Week kicked off the Reach program at our school.

Reach is a program run by students to encourage others to build connections and make sure everyone feels valued and connected.

Surveys conducted with students at SFHS revealed at roughly 130 students feel like they have no other person, student or teacher, that they connect with, explained Daniel Stodtmeister, a member of the Reach leadership team.

"That makes me want to fix the problem," said Stodtmeister.

The Reach program has three vital behaviors signified by the acronym RDI. Students are encouraged to "Reach" across the divide, "Discover" what is interesting about another person, and "Invite" to connect.

"It just comes down to reaching out of your comfort zone and trying to connect with others," said Stodtmeister.

Reach week included an assembly, a lunch barbeque, and a service project where students wrote letters to members of the military, teachers, or other students.

Attributions
Deon Youd