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STAND FOR THE SILENT - Coyote chapter
Story
In May 2015, the Edens/Williams pod at Cyd Lash Academy, a public therapeutic high school, located in Gages Lake, IL had the opportunity to hear Kirk Smalley speak about his son, Ty Smalley, a victim of bullying. Ty Smalley took his own life at the age of eleven after being suspended from school for retaliating against a bully that had been bullying him for over two years. Mr. Smalley explained that a group of students from Oklahoma State University- Oklahoma City started the Stand For The Silent (SFTS) organization in 2010 after learning of Ty’s death to end bullying and stand for those that can not. Mr. Smalley’s story was so powerful and impactful that our students voiced a desire, almost a need, to begin our own chapter. In September 2015, we were honored to be recognized as an official chapter within the SFTS organization.
Mission
The SFTS Coyote Chapter’s mission is to stand together not as individuals but as a group to empower others to not be bystanders to bullying. We will demonstrate this by caring about other people’s feelings and protecting victims by speaking up when one sees bullying in any form. We will share psycho-educational anti- bullying materials in varied formats to both students and staff in educational settings.
Intent
The SFTS Coyote Chapter’s intent is to meet at least twice monthly to explore the impact bullying has on children. We will wear our SFTS t-shirts every other Friday to raise awareness of our chapter and encourage discussions about ways to reduce bullying in the school setting. Our meetings will consist of discussing, planning and implementing goals and objectives related to Stand For The Silent. We will use group time to design posters to display at our school, plan talks with other schools, raise funds for our chapter and the SFTS organization (pizza, nachos, cookies, valentine’s day, candy cane sale), have a specific art therapy group to focus on making an anti-bullying book that can be read to elementary school students, call other chapters and learn what they have done, send emails to educational facilities about our chapter, have assemblies at our school and later other schools, develop our own website, participate in morning announcements, make anti- bullying videos, and develop a quarterly newsletter to be sent home to parents and students.
SFTS Coyote pledge
“From this day forward, I promise to respect those around me as well as respect myself. I am somebody and I can make a difference. I can make another feel loved. I can be the helping hand that leads another back to the path of hope and aspiration. I will not stand silent as others try to spread hatred through my community. Instead, I pledge to lift up those victims and show them their life matters. I will be the change because, I am somebody.”
SFTS Coyote Motto: Keep Calm and Stand For The Silent
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SFTS Board Members
- Sponsor Stacey Gottlieb, LCSW
- Co- Sponsers Kim Eden, Melissa Morreale, James Captain, Krystal Serafin, Tori Clark, Kaitlyn Saam
- Publicity Stacey Gottlieb, LCSW
- Programs Stacey Gottlieb, LCSW
- Projects Stacey Gottlieb, LCSW, Kim Eden, James Captain, Melissa Morreale
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EVENTS
Future Events/Funraisers
- Present at local or national conference regarding SFTS and our local chapter
- Focus on the harmful effects of Cyber- Bullying and how to bring about awareness
Ongoing
- A group is in the process of developing Anti- Bullying children’s books with discussion questions to facilitate learning of how not to be a bystander and healthy ways to deal with bullying behaviors. Assistance from our wonderful teachers, Kim Eden and Bob Williams, as well as our amazing art teacher/ art therapist, Brian Sonders has been invaluable to this process.
- CLA Stand For The Silent School Climate Survey was conducted. Our chapter received the results in early January 2016. We are currently looking at areas of concern and ways to address these concerns with the school administration
Past Events/Fundraisers
- GI Joe Cookie Fundraiser Fall 2015
- Volunteered at Orphans of the Storm 2015
- Volunteered at Equestrian Connection 2015
- Volunteered at the Northern Illinois Food Bank 2015
- Volunteered at Veteran Administration Hospital 2015-2016
- Valentine’s Day Soda Fundraiser Winter 2016, 2017
- House Fire Fundraiser Spring 2016
- Volunteered at Bernie’s Books 2016
- Opened a bank account to keep track of fundraising for transparency
- SFTS T-shirt sale at CLA’s Open House September 2016, 2017, 2018
- Development of website and donation page for both local chapter and link to the national organization Fall 2016
- Viewing of the movie Listen- www.listenthemovie.com to staff and community Fall 2016
Participation alongside Cop-on-Top to raise funds for law enforcement Spring 2017, 2018 - Participation in the Take A Stand program at the Illinois Holocaust Museum Fall 2017, 2018
- School wide event to promote standing for the silent during Bully Prevention Month October 2017, 2018
- Candy Cane and Kisses Fundraiser and donation to Toys For Tots Fall 2017, 2018
- Volunterred at Feed my Starving Chlidren Spring 2018
- Presentation to staff and students about bullying, prevention and how to be an upstander Spring 2018, Fall 2018
- Awarded CLA graduatescholarship money to be used to College of Choice Spring 2018
- Present at local or national conference regarding SFTS and our local chapter