DDHS senior Hailey Sawtelle (front, left) and junior Hailey Mico (back, right) watch a group of Turtle Creek Elementary School fourth graders sign the Birmingham Pledge, which reminds people to treat others with respect and dignity. The DDHS students came to the school to help teach students about tolerance on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (Click pic to see more images in our gallery.)
DELAVAN — Delavan-Darien High School juniors and seniors in the American Diversity course, an upper-level elective offered at DDHS, spent part of the day teaching tolerance to fourth and fifth graders at Turtle Creek Elementary School.
The students-teaching-students classroom learning exercise was part of the district’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., and it was held on the federal holiday dedicated to him, Monday, Jan. 16.
The high school students shared their knowledge of Dr. King in this mini-workshop session on tolerance and diversity.
Each group of DDHS students highlighted the teachings and beliefs of Dr. King and other key members of the American Civil Rights Movement and helped the elementary students find ways to treat others with respect and dignity. Together, the students also signed posters displaying “The Birmingham Pledge,” which serves as a reminder to that commitment.
The Birmingham Pledge Foundation (http://www.birminghampledge.org/) is a grassroots effort to recognize the dignity and worth of every individual, by making a personal, daily commitment to remove prejudice from our own lives and to treat all people with respect.
“This project is one of the ways our students have chosen to make our schools and community a more accepting and inviting place to live and learn,” said DDHS social studies teacher Jeremy Andersen.
Andersen noted that teaching about diversity and tolerance is an important part of the Delavan-Darien School District, which has minority groups making up nearly 50 percent of its student population.
The activity was a way for high school students to reach out and teach the fourth and fifth graders to become examples and role models for the younger students in their school, and prepare for middle and high school by being leaders.
“This is an age where the kids are really still learning,” said DDHS junior Hailey Mico, one of the presenters. “If we teach them this, then the kids can be like, ‘I can be a better person.’”
DDHS students were expected to return to Turtle Creek Elementary School again on Tuesday (Jan. 17) to make sure all fourth and fifth graders had the experience of learning about Dr. King and the work he did to promote equality among all people of this nation.
The Birmingham Pledge
- I believe that every person has worth as an individual.
- I believe that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of race or color.
- I believe that every thought and every act of racial prejudice is harmful; if it is my thought or act, then it is harmful to me as well as to others.
- Therefore, from this day forward I will strive daily to eliminate racial prejudice from my thoughts and actions.
- I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity.
- I will treat all people with dignity and respect; and I will strive daily to honor this pledge, knowing that the world will be a better place because of my effort.
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