CONARD STUDENTS HOST INAUGURAL DO SOMETHING WEEK

Conard High School students are hosting a variety of activities during Do Something Week, when there are numerous opportunities to help others. Modeled after Hall High School’s week of the same name, the event was introduced at a Club Council meeting by students in Dr. Tracey Wilson’s Human Rights class. The idea behind the week is that we must “lose to win” - that when we give up something, like time or money, we can win in ways that we might not have expected. Human Rights students asked each Council member to share the “lose to win” idea with their respective clubs, and to come up with activities to sponsor during Do Something Week. Clubs and class boards have chosen a variety of charities and causes to benefit: the Veterans Hospital, Bridges Family Center, UConn, Unified Theater, and more.

Amidst all this activity, Conard is also participating in the “Love is Louder” movement for its second year. Love is for everyone, so during the week of Valentine’s Day the Conard community promotes love in ways that aren’t exclusively romantic. According to the website, www.loveislouder.com, the mission is “to support anyone feeling mistreated, misunderstood or alone. . . [it’s] a movement of all types of people who have come together to raise the volume around the message that love and support are louder than any internal or external voice that brings us down.” For example, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) are making LGBTQ youth feel loved and accepted by writing words of encouragement on Valentine cards. The cards will be sent to a local chapter of True Colors, a non-profit organization which helps to meet the needs of youth in the sexual and gender minority. Kim Deep-McNamara, GSA adviser and strong supporter of the movement, says, “The ‘Love is Louder’ movement asks us to spend Valentine’s Day spreading positivity and squashing negativity.”

Continuing the theme, Unified Theater members encourages students to participate in “Rocking Acts of Inclusion” throughout the month of February. As explained on the non-profit organization’s website, “Unified Theater dissolves typical barriers between youth through transformative, school based performing arts programming. At Unified Theater, young people with and without disabilities, of all backgrounds, come together as equals to put on a production.” Ideas for acts of inclusion range from sitting with someone new at lunch, to smiling at someone you don’t know in the hallway, to standing up for someone else. Students are encouraged to share their acts on social media sites, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. @unified theater #LOVEinclusion

The week of giving and doing will culminate with a blood drive on Friday, hosted by students in the Intro to Family Development and Allied Health classes. “It has been a tradition to hold the blood drive on the Friday before February break,” said Allied Health teacher, Pam Geyer. It’s a happy coincidence that it falls on Valentine’s Day and the close of Do Something Week.