Each October in the United States is National Bullying Prevention Month. This year, to raise awareness, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Roosevelt Park, Michigan teamed up with local Orchard View Middle School. For the awareness campaign, Ross students created posters that were displayed at the Ross campus, and the posters were then brought to the Orchard View Middle School art class so that they could work together to vote for the top three submissions.
The winning Ross student posters were as follows:
- 1st Place (tied): Celina Stratton – Evening Medical Assistant program
- 1st Place (tied): Haylie Jensen – Morning Medical Assistant program
- 2nd Place: Amanda Holman – Career Development Coordinator
- 3rd Place: Amanda Meier – Medical Insurance Billing and Office Administration program
The National Bullying Prevention Month is a program made up of initiatives that encourage students to reach out to new classmates, build relationships, stand up for those that they witness being bullied, and to foster an atmosphere that is inclusive of others. As students follow the framework, they are encouraged to be leaders in their schools and help make their learning environment safer and more productive.
The Ross students and staff enjoyed their time creating the posters and advocating for friendship and unity between students in schools. Many of them have witnessed or experienced bullying in school settings, so they were passionate about being a voice to help to end it. On the other end, the middle school students that had the opportunity to judge the posters also enjoyed the experience and were inspired by the artwork that the Ross students created. “We had a great time discussing the posters,” shared Jo Johnson, Orchard View Middle School 8th grade art teacher. “Students were asked to consider the clarity and impact of the message along with artistic expression. [The] work actually sparked some great conversation about bullying.”