Every October, the Calais School observes National Bullying Prevention Month.

The school’s counselors met with students to discuss bullying awareness, said School Counselor Marjane Vitaletti. Mrs. Vitaletti’s 10th grade group and School Psychologist Dr. Nicole Bakers 12+ groups utilized Animal Adaptive Therapy in their discussions and reviewed the definition of a bully, how victims feel when they are bullied and why someone may be a bully.

With the help of Animal Assisted Interventions handler Susan Greenbaum and dog Orbit,   students talked about how to react in different bullying scenarios.  Orbit offered advice to the students about how to react in different situations.  The students then discussed if they agreed with Orbit.  The students also offered advice to Orbit about situations in which he was bullied.

Teachers instructed students about a safe community, kindness, respect, empathy, and compassion, Mrs. Vitaletti said. “We are proud of our students and their awareness the importance of kindness, compassion and empathy.”

Students were also asked to make posters, which have been posted on display in the school hallways. Some students and staff wore blue on October 23. Mrs. Vitaletti said she also shared an informational website with many valuable teaching tools including videos, which staff may incorporate into their lessons.

National Bullying Prevention Month is part of a nationwide campaign founded in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. The campaign takes place annually in October and unites communities around the world to educate and raise awareness of bullying prevention.