NAHANT – Johnson School students cheer in the parking lot during a sunny Wednesday morning for the talented bikers. Bikers speed at the ramp rail and “fly” at the peak, when students raise their hands and shout.
From kindergarten to sixth grade, a total of 110 students attended this bike show. It is an anti-bullying program, and the program was demonstrated with two powerful athletes (Dante Tabuyo and Frank Albino) showing a good example of teamwork, according to School Principal Kevin Andrews.
“It’s to inspire the students to work together, be positive and persevere, and then be successful,” said Andrews.
Andrews believes that even kindergarteners can behave unkindly to one another, and it is important to see somebody that is very athletic and skilled promoting good behavior for little kids to copy that type of behavior.
Johnson School arranges three programs similar to this event every year, programs could include sports, fine arts and dance. Every year the school tries to include an anti-bullying program.
The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) raises funds for these kinds of assemblies and after school enrichment programs. Funds are generated when the parent volunteers organize traditional town-wide events like the annual halloween carnival bash, holiday tree sales, and pumpkins sales at the farmers market. The PTO works together with the school faculty and parents to create exciting experiences for the students that align with the school’s curriculum, mission, and values while also including the voice of the parents.
PTO member Carolyn Sweazy described the performance today as phenomenal. “When students have the opportunity to receive an important message in a really fun and exciting way, then it’s a huge success,” said Sweazy.
Nick Akerman was the host of the action bike show, with his two talented bikers Tabuyo and Albino. They are specialists in performing entertaining speeches such as this anti-bullying talk.
Akerman said the first step of anti-bullying was to recognize the bullying. There are three types of bullying: physical, verbal and cyber bullying. With early access to the internet, elementary students should be aware of cyber-bullying, according to Andrews.
An example of cyber-bullying could be a student posting unkind messages about others on their social accounts. Last year, the Middlesex partnership for Youth came to the Johnson School and had a speech on cyber-bullying.
Sylvia Chen can be reached at [email protected]
