Tag Archive for: High School

“Good Days” Are Coming to Your School

Did you know that an inclusive and positive school culture makes for a safer school community? This year, Safe and Sound Schools is kicking off back-to-school with the “Good Days” Tour and Contest, and asking students to think about their campus community, and how they create “Good Days.”

The “Good Days” Tour and Contest is campaign aimed at promoting positive school culture in high schools across the country.

We are teaming up with teen actor Jeremy Ray Taylor and the band Chasing da Vinci to bring “Good Days” to your school. Jeremy Ray Taylor is an American actor best known for his lead roles as “Ben” in the hit film IT and “Sonny” in Goosebumps 2. Chasing da Vinci is a sibling “acoustic-pop” band and also the singers and songwriters of the original song “Good Days.”

Bring Live Music and Workshops to Your High School

Applying is easy. Simply fill our the application and your high school could become one of the winning schools to serve as a tour stop this school year. Submit an application at https://safeandsoundschools.org/tour/ by September 25, 2019. If you want to go the extra mile, send us a video under 1 minute sharing what “Good Days” means to you!

The “Good Days” Tour Stop activities include:

  • A SPARK (Small Personal Acts of Real Kindness) workshop with Jeremy Ray Taylor
  • Live performance of “Good Days” by Chasing da Vinci ft. Jeremy Ray Taylor
  • Inspirational stories from Safe and Sound Schools’ co-founders and Sandy Hook moms, Michele Gay & Alissa Parker
  • Safe and Sound Schools Student Club Sign-ups
  • A Chasing da Vinci concert for teens and families
  • Swag, and lots of fun!

Spread the Word

Parents, caregivers, and school staff: Please share this opportunity with high school students in your life. Although this contest is open to the greater high school community, we strongly encourage applications from students!

Students: applying is simple. Feel free to share this contest with your friends and classmates!

Don’t forget to follow us on social media for updates. #GoodDays2019 #GoodDaysTour

 

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Safe and Sound Youth Council Taking Off!

Working for Safe and Sound Schools means meeting and working with a lot of amazing people, but the young people we get to work with through our Safe and Sound Youth Council may just be the most fun! We love our parents, teachers, mental health, police, fire, and safety professionals no less. But for this former teacher, it’s still all about “the kids.”

In January, I was invited to Westport, Massachusetts by Briannah, a high school senior looking for help with her senior project. The topic? School safety, of course. She could have picked a million different—and worthwhile–social concerns to focus on, but for her, it was important to give back to the community where she grew up by ensuring that it would be safe for classes to come.

Since founding Safe and Sound Schools, high schoolers like Briannah have reached out to us to learn how they can be a part of our mission. It should not have surprised us that so many young people across the country would take note and reach out to join in. Yet the wisdom of these young people still takes my breath away.

They get it.

School is for them and about them. They are leaders, thinkers, creators, dreamers and problem solvers. They are our future.

So why not give them a seat at the table and watch the magic happen? Every young person that has reached out to us over the years has had a hand in developing the Safe and Sound Youth Council.  For each of them and now beneficiaries like Westport High School students, we are proud to share the exciting growth of our program. Safe and Sound Youth Councils are gearing up in Massachusetts, Connecticut, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Maryland, Utah, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Ohio, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas and Florida!

As I shared my story at Westport High and talked about love, loss, and learning, I watched an auditorium full of middle and high school students follow me–kind of amazing as these folks can be a tough crowd! Yet there they were, every step of the way, eager to learn and then to find out how they can be part of the solution.

As I wrapped up my talk and finished with an invitation to join our Youth Council, I scanned the crowd of young faces to see who might step up. I saw ideas, enthusiasm, and energy throughout. I saw leaders, thinkers, and change-makers ready to get started. And I saw the adults—police, teachers, counselors, staff members, and parents ready too. Ready to make room at the table. Ready to share in this work. Ready to work together to keep their school safe and sound.

Thank you to Briannah and the staff of Westport High School for hosting Safe and Sound Schools! We look forward to working and learning with you!

Michele Gay, Co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools

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Time to Put the Students in Charge

Students make the best teachers. They are the eyes and ears of their schools…. the leaders of movements… and the galvanizers of change. In all the years I’ve spent traveling around the country, I’ve met some incredible students who are just as inspired as we are to create a nation of safer schools.

As excited as I was to meet these students, and thrilled that they understand the need for school safety, I felt frustrated that there wasn’t a way for them to turn their ideas into action. So fueled by their passion and bright ideas, we talked to our network of experts, students, teachers and administrators to build a new program: The Safe and Sound Youth Council.

The Safe and Sound Youth Council gives students a seat at the table and brings them into the national conversation of school safety. It is a leadership program, accessible to all, and gives students the support they need to assess their school’s safety, act with smart and sustainable changes, and audit their impact. At the same time, the Safe and Sound Youth Council provides them with a foundation of credibility to help bring their ideas to life.

We hope you will check out the program page to learn more about the Safe and Sound Youth Council. Please also share this program with your networks, especially any students. The faster we can get more Safe and Sound Youth Council chapters off the ground, the closer we’ll come to creating a nation of safer schools.

So thank you to Kaia, Noah, Trey, Makenzi, Colby, Anthony, John, Julia, Olivia, James, and the countless other students who helped bring to life this unique and empowering program. At Safe and Sound Schools, we will never give up, and thanks to the new Youth Council program, we can bring the students into the conversation and foster a new generation of champions who won’t give up, either.

Michele Gay, Co-founder and Executive Director of Safe and Sound Schools

 

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