Students Support Unity Day

Students throughout the Carmel Central School District wore orange on Wednesday to celebrate Unity Day as part of National Bullying Prevention Month.   "Unity Day is an opportunity to come together in support of kindness, acceptance, and inclusion," Superintendent of Schools Michael Plotkin said.  "Each of the district's schools celebrated it in their own way. " At Matthew Paterson Elementary, fourth graders helped kindergartners and first graders at lunch. Fourth graders at Kent Elementary sang a song over the loudspeaker. Teachers at Kent Primary taught special classroom lessons about kindness.  "At GFMS, we’ll celebrate by wearing orange and taking time to reinforce the importance of how we treat one another," Principal John Fratto said. "We want all of our students to feel comfortable being themselves, knowing they are valued and that they belong. Today is a good reminder that the way we treat others matters, and that even small actions can make a difference in someone’s day." 
At Carmel High School, members of the Best Buddies Club, set up a table in the lunchroom and invited students to write about how they can make someone feel included, or what they do when they see unkindness.  

"We had a lot of kids from all different grades filling these out," said Owen, President of Best Buddies. "We're going to make a huge unity chain and hang it on a billboard outside the cafeteria."  
Created by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, the message of Unity Day is simple: bullying is not acceptable, and every student deserves to feel safe and valued at school, online, and in the community.