LAKEPORT >> Students at Terrace Middle School will participate with more than one million other students across the country to help break down social and racial barriers during the annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day on Oct. 28.
The event, launched by the Southern Poverty Law Center”s (SPLC) Teaching Tolerance project in 2002, encourages students to sit with someone new in the cafeteria for just one day.
Cafeterias are the focus of Mix It Up because that”s where a school”s social boundaries are most obvious. Many schools plan similar barrier-busting activities throughout the day. Some use the event to kick off a yearlong exploration of social divisions.
Parent and community volunteers will facilitate fun activities during lunch aimed to get kids talking. The idea is to get students thinking about others, have fun together and build bridges toward future friendships.
“Mix It Up is a positive step that schools can take to help create learning environments where students see each other as individuals and not just as members of a separate group,” said Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello. “When people step out of their cliques and get to know someone, they realize just how much they have in common.”
The SPLC established Teaching Tolerance in 1991 to provide educators with free resources designed to reduce prejudice, improve intergroup relations and support equitable school experiences for the nation”s children.
