We’ve all seen movies and television shows that take place in high schools where the cafeteria scene pops up, with tables filled by youths separated by every stereotype in the bag. At one table is a group of students who share the same ethnicity or gender; there is the popular table, the `jock` table, the table filled with members from the math club, and so on.
Unfortunately, if you walk into the cafeterias of most real schools, those same separations hold true, but efforts are being made by school administrators, teachers and students to stir things up and make everyone feel a little more welcome.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, Draper Middle School in Rotterdam will be participating with schools nationwide in the annual Mix it Up at Lunch program.
The concept is simple: On Thursday, when students enter the cafeteria to eat lunch, they will be forced to sit with people whom they wouldn’t otherwise eat lunch with. However, there’s a method behind mixing the students up ` the organizers of the program understand that it’s not just going to happen naturally.
`This year we’re going to do it by the color of their tops but without them knowing. They never know because every year we try to change it so that way they just do it as opposed to knowing or preparing for it,` said Maria Pacheco, a teacher at Draper Middle School and a Mix it Up at Lunch organizer.
Pacheco and other program organizers are going to cover each table in the cafeteria with a different color tablecloth. Students will be separated by the color of their shirts, but they won’t find this out until they come to school and it’s too late to change. Last year, Pacheco and her team handed out playing cards ` students had to sit with other students who held cards with matching suits.
The Mix it Up at Lunch program was started through an organization called Teaching Tolerance, which is dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and, of course, teaching tolerance. They supply schools throughout the country with free educational materials to help reach the organization’s goals.
`They started doing the lunch by inviting students to take a different seat because they had found through research and surveys with [students] that cafeterias are where most of the cliques become apparent. That’s where the separation really comes in,` said Pacheco.
`They announced these programs where kids can sit in a different seat outside your comfort zone, meet someone new, or meet that kid who doesn’t talk to anyone,` said Pacheco.
Last year, millions of students at more than 10,000 schools participated nationwide. The lunch is a schoolwide effort that involves students, teachers, counselors, staff, administrators and school clubs. In Draper Middle School’s case, it is the club Peers for Peace.
`Every year we do something different, and the kids tend to look after bullying and intolerance. I think the kids in the Peers for Peace program, as well as the other students put a lot of effort toward [the lunch], and I think the kids really get a lot out of it,` said Tricia Saulo, a teacher at Draper Middle School and program organizer. `It’s a fun day and the kids seems learn a lot from participating in the activities.`
The project doesn’t just involve sitting with students you wouldn’t normally sit with, though. There’s a second part. Pacheco and Paulo have teamed up with other teachers and staff members at the school to build a `wall of tolerance` out of different materials, including index cards. Before the lunch, students are going to write on each index card an anonymous note about an instance where they have experienced some sort of bullying (whether they bullied someone or were on the receiving end). The notes will then be stuck to the wall. During each lunch session ` there are three ` students will remove the index cards and discuss what is written on them with the peers they are sitting with.
`By the end of each lunch, each group will have broken down a little bit of the wall. We’re hoping it will work,` said Pacheco.
Prizes will be given out to students who step out of their comfort zones the most, including movie tickets for students to share with their new friends. Teachers and staff members are invited to sit and eat with the students on this day, which is also out of the ordinary for a normal lunch period.
For information on the program, or to learn how to participate and host a Mix it Up at Lunch program in your own school, visit www.mixitup.org.“