Cove HEB brings anti-bullying program to school
Special to Leader-Press
COPPERAS COVE, TX (February 1, 2017)—“Be a buddy, not a bully!” That’s the message that second graders at Williams/Ledger Elementary took away from an anti-bullying workshop called the Buddy League presented by HEB Plus Copperas Cove.
The new program was piloted at the school with plans to expand it statewide for all second graders next year, said HEB store general manager Tim Smith.
"When kids have an environment to where they feel safe, they're not threatened, they learn better,” Smith said. “I feel like starting with the bullying concept and helping them to understand how they can impact that positively will help them to be better students, not only themselves but to other students as well."
In addition to listening to HEB partner Candace Burton read a book about a student getting bullied because of her name, Chrysanthemum, students also participated in two exercises that demonstrated that bullying can have lasting effects.
Students were given activity sheets that they completed and colored in class prior to attending the workshop. They were asked to crumple one of the sheets into the smallest ball possible and then flatten it back out and remove all of the wrinkles. Students were also selected to squeeze toothpaste out of a tube onto a paper plate and then try to get it back into the tube. In both cases, students were not able to return either the paper to its original state or get the toothpaste back into the tube.
“Basically, we taught the children that what you say matters because once it is out there, you can never get it back even though you apologize,” Smith said.
Students who exhibit Buddy League behavior of kindness to others can be nominated by their teacher for the HEB Buddy League Student Advocate Award. Only one student may be nominated from each second grade class and one student will receive a $50 savings bond and additional prizes while his teacher receives $100 in school supplies courtesy of HEB.
One of the favorite things of the workshop was a visit from the store mascot, H-E-Buddy, who posed for photos with the students and exchanged hugs. The giant bag of groceries also did a chant and cheer with the students reciting the workshop’s motto of “Be a buddy, not a bully.”
For second grader Jaelah Bynum, the message really hit home.
"I learned that if you bully somebody, they won't play with you outside or they might not talk to you anymore," the second grader said. "It's not cool to bully. It's cool to be a buddy."