A World of Difference Training
at Woodhull School
They set out to make “a world of difference” and they did as 23 Huntington High School students worked with more than 300 fifth and sixth graders at Woodhull Intermediate School, discussing a range of topics, including acceptance, bullying, empathy and compassion.
Huntington’s A World of Difference club, which is more commonly known by the acronym AWOD, promotes anti-bias and diversity programs that allow students to better understand the issues of prejudice and bigotry as well as providing a forum for exploring diverse viewpoints.
The high school students wrote a curriculum targeted at the youngsters. The plan included tolerance education, anti-bullying training and communication skills that the youngsters found useful.
“The annual event is a favorite of both the high school students and the fifth and sixth graders,” said business teacher Suzie Biagi, who serves as the AWOD faculty advisor along with retired librarian Camille DeCanio. “The trainers begin writing their own curriculum in February, which leads to fine tuning and then training each other at monthly meetings before the day-long seminar at Woodhull takes place. Next year the plan is to work with the students during the fall and then again in the spring.”
Mrs. Biagi said the curriculum covered “cyber bullying, being a bystander, standing up for others when they can’t advocate for themselves, good sportsmanship and, most importantly, exploring their own biases and how what you see is not always what is.”
“It’s a lot of work, but so worth it,” junior Janelle Fore said. “I love working with the younger kids. It’s very rewarding.”
The Woodhull students were attentive during the large group sessions as they worked with the AWOD trainers. Smaller group sessions involved creating and sharing “graffiti” boards, which were completed by the younsters with support and encouragement from high school AWOD members. Sessions also included various role plays that had to be solved by the fifth and sixth graders.
Students were later sent back to their classrooms with various follow-up activities. They were also given glow in the dark bracelets inscribed with the AWOD creed: “The power of one can make a difference.”
“The AWOD students walked into Woodhull with bright smiles and full of energy,” Assistant Principal Jarrett Stein said. “The sessions went very well and the two groups of students enjoyed working with one another. Woodhull teachers believed the program was informative, important and an eye opening experience.”
Mr. Stein and Woodhull Principal Traci Roethel both hope to continue the program during the 2015/16 school year.