By: Cora, Niharika, and Dihain
No Place for Hate (NPFH) is an organization that 1,600+ schools nationwide have been enrolled in, including Design39Campus. The No Place For Hate program is important because it helps our community and this amazing school! The NPFH program helps kids address issues of bias so every student can feel safe at school. 4th through 8th grade students applied to join the team in October, and meetings have already started for our new Student No Place for Hate Ambassadors!
The first counselor we interviewed was Ms. G. She is one of the newer counselors to Design39Campus. She feels excited and eager to get started with the NPFH program this year. Ms. G hopes that the program will make positive changes around D39C. She thinks that so far the No Place For Hate Program has made D39 a better place and there are more events and activities to come. With the counselors, the new ambassadors will meet and work together to talk about problems of bias or hate they see in school and how to address these problems. They will create activities to eliminate hate on campus. Ms. G believes it will take time for people to learn new ways to treat people with respect. The counselors are trying to make the school environment a place where everyone feels included. Finally, we asked Ms. G a get-to-know-you question in her interview: “If you had one wish, what would it be?” She said she wanted to be a billionaire!
The second counselor we interviewed was Mr. Bibby. Mr. Bibby loves the No Place For Hate Program and is very excited about it. Mr. Bibby thinks that the No Place For Hate Community will help our school to make it a better place. He thinks that many people believe in it. He shared that the ambassadors will help brainstorm ideas and design new ways of helping the school become a better place. The new ambassadors were chosen so they could help the school and create lessons and activities for all students to participate in. If he had one wish, it would be to live until 100 with perfect health.
Thirdly, we interviewed Ms. M, the Student Support Service Specialist at Design39Campus. When we asked her what she thought about the No Place for Hate program, she said “I think it is necessary, important work.” We then asked her what she thinks about the No Place for Hate program and how it has made D39C a better place. She said that she is new here but she thinks it will have a positive impact on the school. She thinks the NPFH Ambassadors need to increase awareness, skills and the anti-bias mindset of the students here.
Lastly, we interviewed Ms. S. She is one of our new counselors that are so excited to be here in D39C. We asked her how she feels about the No place for Hate program, and she said that she was really excited to be a part of it. We then went on to ask her what she thinks about the No Place for Hate program and how it has helped D39C become a better place. Her response to this was, “I believe that it has created a place of belonging.”
We interviewed a couple of the new ambassadors for our school. Their names are Seva S, Julian L, Ethan P, and Ivy L. Seva, a 6th Grader at our school, said she became a No Place for Hate Ambassador because she wants to make a change in the school. Seva wants to make sure that there is no bullying at school. Ethan, an 8th grader, thinks that the No Place for Hate committee is against all bullying and negative comments. They are thinking about making some painting activities that are talking about how you shouldn’t bully or even be rude to someone. Ivy, a 5th Grader here at Design39, thinks that the ambassadors can accomplish their work by brainstorming different ideas and getting feedback from different people. Those different people can be teachers, staff, parents or students! We also asked each one of them if they had one wish, what it would be. Ethan said that he would wish to be able to draw more wishes. Seva thought about it and said that she wanted to have all the CapriSuns, Oreos, and Hot Cheetos in the world. Ivy would love to have lots and lots of cats. Finally, Julian, a 4th grader, would like a genie who would grant wishes for him.
We are excited to see the positive impact the No Place for Hate program and ambassadors have on Design39Campus this year!