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"Some of the students talked about being discriminated against because they were Jewish, or black, or because they were friends with black or gay people," said Christine Domingo, a NHS senior who has been a student facilitator for the program for the past three years.
She said she was glad that the program was started at the high school because acceptance of diversity is "extremely important."
NHS sophomore Stephanie Neumann said that she was surprised when she heard some of the students talk about what it was like for them at the high school. "A lot of the people that went up, you would have never guessed what they were dealing with inside," said Stephanie.
People were very quiet as they listened to the speakers, she said.
"The open microphone session is the most emotional and powerful part of the day. Students are invited to the microphone to talk about experiences or incidents where they felt hurt by the words of others. In some cases students apologized for their hurtful words," said World of Difference coordinator Charles Margolis, an art teacher at the high school who is also chairman of the Newington Youth Adult Council.
He said that he started putting the program together with people from the community after a racial incident involving high school students in Newington about six years ago.
"That was very definitely the seed for this program," said Margolis.
Lt. Stephen Clark, who is in charge of the detective division at the Newington Police Department, said that the incident took place on Halloween. "On Halloween night in 1997 four victims, two of whom were African-American males, were confronted by a large group of juveniles who had been drinking. This incident involved all Newington juveniles. Both the African- American males were subjected to offensive racial remarks, and they were assaulted including being pushed, shoved and punched and pelted with beer cans and pumpkins. An adult came to the aid of the victims. The victims ran home, and the police were notified," said Clark.
"Because the incident was categorized as a hate crime, the Newington Police Department was required to submit a report of the incident to the State of Connecticut Department of Public Safety," said Clark.
Margolis said that he was so "incensed" after the incident six years ago that he talked to people in the community about what could be done about it during a Youth Adult Council meeting.
He contacted the American Defamation League (ADL) and representatives from the organization have participated in the NHS program for the past four years. Margolis said that he chose the ADL because the organization has a long history of providing programs that deal with prejudice and encouraging tolerance and sensitivity to other cultures. "I went to the Town Council and Board of Education to solicit funding ... which was granted, so we were off and running," said Margolis.
Each World of Difference Day starts with the students watching a film provided by the ADL during an assembly. "The movie showed clips of Hitler, the Ku Klux Klan, and kids from all over the world at a diversity camp," said Jake.
He said that the discussions after the morning session were interesting and students were encouraged to come up with a list of ideas to make NHS a better school.
Margolis said that the facilitators for the program are juniors and seniors because he thought they would be important role models for the sophomores. During the morning session the older students performed skits and gave readings. "One student read the story of a boy who had been bullied and how the friendship of another student helped avert his suicide attempt. This boy grew up to be an outstanding citizen. His story ended with the lesson that the friendship of a single person can make a difference in a life," said Margolis.
"Student facilitators and teachers are required to participate in a specialized training program provided by the ADL. This helps them understand the goals and purpose of the program and prepares them to facilitate activities in small groups," he said.
After the morning session the sophomores go back to their homerooms and are divided into small groups led by the student facilitators.
Students tend to open up more with their peers, said NHS physics teacher Steve Moccio, one of the staff facilitators for the program.
In one homeroom a group of students talked about what happened at Columbine High School. Another group of students discussed the effects of violent video games and TV shows.
The students were also encouraged to talk about discrimination they experienced at NHS. When one of the sophomores started talking about older students throwing food at younger students in the cafeteria, one of the students in his group told him not to talk about that because there could be retaliation.
"I think there is always the chance that kid is right," said NHS Spanish teacher Jamie Rodriguez, who assisted Margolis with the program and has started a similar program for elementary and middle school students in Newington.
She said that because students are sometimes afraid to speak up in fear of retaliation, that perpetuates bullying behavior. Often kids who bully other kids do it for attention or to be funny and don't realize how much pain they are causing somebody else, she said.
In the four years she has taught at NHS, Rodriguez said she has seen a difference because of World of Difference Day.
"The most important thing that happens is the ripple effect. There are always going to be kids who don't take it seriously, but the next day most students said that they had learned something, or it opened their eyes, or even that it was cool," said Rodriguez.
"This put a lot of things in perspective for a lot of people," said Stephanie.
Rodriguez said that she was impressed when two seniors stood up and encouraged kids who sat alone in the cafeteria to join them. "They said, 'Come and sit with us. There will always be a seat at our table.' That was really nice," said Rodriguez.
For the first time Margolis invited two speakers to end the program.
"TV Channel 8 anchor Keith Kountz and co-anchor Jocelyn Maminta talked about their experiences as minorities who were able to rise to the top of their field and some of the impediments and discrimination they faced in achieving that success," said Margolis.
"Jocelyn talked about an incident early in her career when she did a story in the south on the KKK. She was surrounded by a group of hostile KKK members and was escorted by the state police from the rally," said Margolis.
He said that he invited the TV anchors because he thought they would be important role models for the students. "Keith and Jocelyn said that the kids asked a lot of good questions, and they did," said Margolis.
After the program he received an e-mail from NHS English teacher Christine Perkins, and she told him that he should be proud of how World of Difference has evolved.
"Maybe this program doesn't change all the kids or any of them permanently for the better, but it makes me feel more hopeful about their potential for improvement," Perkins wrote.
"Five years ago when the S.A.F.E. Club (a direct result of World of Difference Day) advertised the first Day of Silence, we couldn't keep a poster up in this school that overnight didn't acquire homophobic comments. Last year, this wasn't a problem at all. I'm not suggesting that your program is totally responsible, but it certainly helps that World of Difference publicizes and educates students about prejudice on such a large scale and in such a positive manner," she wrote.
If World of Difference makes one bully think about how much they are making other people's lives miserable, it's worth it, said Jake.
When asked if there should be more programs like World of Difference at the high school, Jake responded, "That's a nine plus."
Look for more stories in the Newington Town Crier about programs that have been started as a result of World of Difference Day at Newington High School.
