Marblehead group to host anti-bullying program on Oct. 6

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead?s 22-year-old Task Force Against Discrimination is kicking off its fall activities with the “Rachel?s Challenge” anti-bullying program at Marblehead High Thursday, Oct. 6.High school students will be involved with the program all day, and the community is invited to a one-hour presentation from 6:30-7:30 p.m., just before a football game.Task force member Lauren Weston, who is associated with the school, arranged for the program. It will be paid for by donations to the task force and a grant from the Friends of the Marblehead Public Schools.Weston told selectmen last week that high school students requested more programs that involved them and their parents.Rachel?s Challenge gives students and parents a chance to honor the first victim in the Columbine shootings for the kindness and the caring spirit she demonstrated, which came to light in her diary after her death.Task Force members are also working with Town Administrator Tony Sasso to have a “No Place for Hate” banner displayed on a public building. Possible sites discussed so far are the police station and Abbot Public Library and Deacon John Whipple, a task force member, said he would like to see a banner displayed at Town Meetings as well, “as part of our community awareness,”?We?re hoping to get more banners as well, smaller ones,” the Rev. Anne Marie Hunter, co-chair of the task force told the selectmen. The smaller banners could be displayed inside town buildings.?We just want to remind people to respect each other,” said Co-Chairman Helaine Hazlett, “and allow them to have some conversations in their homes.”The task force received banners from the Anti-Defamation League, one of the groups it has worked with to make Marblehead a “No Place for Hate” community for the past three years. Also helping Marblehead to achieve that designation were the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield.Created after a 1989 anti-Semitic incident, the nine-member task force includes a member of the clergy, a law enforcement officer, an attorney or educator and concerned citizens appointed annually by the selectmen to maintain a community where all individuals are welcome regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnic background.