By Eliana Sanchez, Northwestern Correspondent
With its inception in the summer of 2013 by former Northwestern softball All-American Marisa Bast, Wildcats Stand Up and ROARR (Reach Out and Reinforce Respect) paved the way for student-athletes at Northwestern University to make a difference in the Evanston and Chicagoland community. The program takes student-athletes (or Sports Heroes) into local schools to facilitate meaningful conversations and provide a curriculum about bullying to students. In the beginning, it involved 25 student-athletes from a variety of sports that came together to plan and activate the anti-bulling campaign. Now, after numerous visits to schools around the area, ROARR has had an immensely positive impact.
Last month, Tommy Doles, Max Chapman and seven other student-athletes traveled to Lincoln Elementary School to meet with 4th and 5th graders in two separate sessions. Prior to the visit, the students got together and brainstormed some questions for the athletes, ranging from "Have you ever been bullied?" to "What inspired you to be a part of the ROARR program?" During the visit, the students were separated into small groups where the athletes helped them find things they had in common with each other.
When asked about why Bast decided to take this approach when designing the program, she said, "Everybody has something in common with each other. That's actually how friendships usually start. Sometimes it's really hard to find things you have in common, and sometimes it's a little easier. But all of us have things that we like that we have in common. You can get to know your peers if you make the effort."
Through these practical interactions, the student-athletes were able to better connect with the younger students, fostering a sentiment of respect and community amongst each other.
After the small-group breakout session, the students played a Jeopardy game to test their knowledge of the anti-bullying curriculum. In addition to discussing what bullying is, the program aims to educate and emphasize why bullying awareness should be important to students and how it can be prevented. The games allow for this by encouraging the students to speak up and show how the curriculum has impacted them on an individual level, making participation in a learning exercise fun.
After a successful day of making meaningful connections to spread awareness of such an important phenomenon among today's youth, Lincoln Principal Michelle Cooney commended the student athletes for their involvement.
"There is an ownership in a community to look out for one another in a positive way," Cooney said. "The athletes/Heroes shared what this is like in their experience at NU and connected this to the experience of our 4th and 5th graders at Lincoln. We were thrilled that our students were able to engage with the athletes in such a meaningful way!"
Following the interaction, both the Northwestern student-athletes and the Lincoln School students had positive take-aways from the ROARR campaign. Bast's intentions in starting the initiative involved a focus on mutual benefit from its participants that would spark an interest in expanding the program. "I hope that the student-athletes can get a lot out of this program and share it with their teammates and coaches," Bast said. In terms of the effectiveness of the campaign, its success can only be measured by its lasting impact on the students. "If we can build awareness about bullying," Bast said, "then I will consider this program to be successful."
With its inception in the summer of 2013 by former Northwestern softball All-American Marisa Bast, Wildcats Stand Up and ROARR (Reach Out and Reinforce Respect) paved the way for student-athletes at Northwestern University to make a difference in the Evanston and Chicagoland community. The program takes student-athletes (or Sports Heroes) into local schools to facilitate meaningful conversations and provide a curriculum about bullying to students. In the beginning, it involved 25 student-athletes from a variety of sports that came together to plan and activate the anti-bulling campaign. Now, after numerous visits to schools around the area, ROARR has had an immensely positive impact.
Last month, Tommy Doles, Max Chapman and seven other student-athletes traveled to Lincoln Elementary School to meet with 4th and 5th graders in two separate sessions. Prior to the visit, the students got together and brainstormed some questions for the athletes, ranging from "Have you ever been bullied?" to "What inspired you to be a part of the ROARR program?" During the visit, the students were separated into small groups where the athletes helped them find things they had in common with each other.
When asked about why Bast decided to take this approach when designing the program, she said, "Everybody has something in common with each other. That's actually how friendships usually start. Sometimes it's really hard to find things you have in common, and sometimes it's a little easier. But all of us have things that we like that we have in common. You can get to know your peers if you make the effort."
Through these practical interactions, the student-athletes were able to better connect with the younger students, fostering a sentiment of respect and community amongst each other.
After the small-group breakout session, the students played a Jeopardy game to test their knowledge of the anti-bullying curriculum. In addition to discussing what bullying is, the program aims to educate and emphasize why bullying awareness should be important to students and how it can be prevented. The games allow for this by encouraging the students to speak up and show how the curriculum has impacted them on an individual level, making participation in a learning exercise fun.
After a successful day of making meaningful connections to spread awareness of such an important phenomenon among today's youth, Lincoln Principal Michelle Cooney commended the student athletes for their involvement.
"There is an ownership in a community to look out for one another in a positive way," Cooney said. "The athletes/Heroes shared what this is like in their experience at NU and connected this to the experience of our 4th and 5th graders at Lincoln. We were thrilled that our students were able to engage with the athletes in such a meaningful way!"
Following the interaction, both the Northwestern student-athletes and the Lincoln School students had positive take-aways from the ROARR campaign. Bast's intentions in starting the initiative involved a focus on mutual benefit from its participants that would spark an interest in expanding the program. "I hope that the student-athletes can get a lot out of this program and share it with their teammates and coaches," Bast said. In terms of the effectiveness of the campaign, its success can only be measured by its lasting impact on the students. "If we can build awareness about bullying," Bast said, "then I will consider this program to be successful."