By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
From tear laden tissues to countless hugs to dancing more than 200 students and 50 adults from Brandon and Goodrich gathered at their schools to listen and be heard.
The reason was Challenge Day.
“In my 10 years at BHS, we have had Challenge Day six times, and would have done it more if COVID didn’t shut it down for a few years,” said Brandon High School principal Dan Stevens. “Previously, I worked in the Romeo School District and we did it every year that I was there. I saw the impact it had on kids and their lives, so one of the first things I did in my first year as principal of BHS was to bring it here.”
The purpose of Challenge Day is to improve self-management, social awareness, self-awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. For 35 years, Challenge Day has been hosting the program through their facilitators. Each day, two facilitators lead the day-long program to help students see that they are not alone with their struggles and to think about things that others are going through.
On March 13, Goodrich High School hosted their first Challenge Day, followed by the program being at Brandon High School on March 14-15. Each day hosts around 100 students and about 20 adult volunteers.
“We first heard about Challenge Day through networking with our neighbors,” said Goodrich High School Principal Travis McDowell.
“Dan Stevens at Brandon introduced us to Challenge Day and after visiting their website, our admin team knew we had to jump at this opportunity. We brought the Challenge Day mission and vision statements to our student leadership team and the students got really excited and wanted to participate.”
The day starts with plenty of high-energy ice breakers for students and volunteers to introduce themselves to someone new and talk about something positive, followed by breaking into small groups of five or six students and one adult volunteer.
“The experience for me was eye opening to the resiliency of the students in our community and a realization of how much they carry with them in their day-to-day lives,” said Courtney McClerren, volunteer and executive director of the Brandon Prevention Coalition. “The most difficult part for me was watching how some topics affected students so deeply. While they don’t have ‘adult’ problems, they still sometimes have problems that are the same as adults and it can affect them in big ways. I believe Challenge Day is an amazing program.”
There are plenty of social activities throughout the day, as well as times to break into their small groups and discuss how they’re feeling. One activity that is done in complete silence is called ‘Cross the Line’, and it stuck with Scott VanSumeren, Goodrich School Board trustee and volunteer.
“We discussed our goals, our negative feelings and our embarrassments,” he said. “The point was that we can learn so much about another person in two minutes if we take a little bit of time to get to know them. What you discover from this session is carried into the afternoon part of the program, which is where I felt things became real. We all lined up on one side of a line, the moderator starts with a question such as “Have you ever experienced bullying or know of someone getting bullied? If so, cross the line.” Several more questions were asked, some more poignant than others, and it was heartbreaking to see the numbers that crossed the line. Every question that was asked had several people crossing. So, no matter what you think you are going through right now, you are not going through it alone. It was very powerful.”
The point of doing the activity in silence is that you learn so much about people without ever having to say a word. Both students and volunteers participate the whole day to try and break down the barriers between adults and teens, as well as to show students that the adults have gone through the same things they did and they’re still here.
“We are always looking at ways to build a positive building culture and climate along with social and emotional learning and Challenge Day was an excellent way to do this,” said McDowell.
“We are so appreciative for the tremendous support from staff, coaches, and community members who volunteered their time to be adult participants and go through the workshop with our students. It was encouraging to see the students’ compassion and empathy as they were becoming more connected to one another through open and honest facilitated dialogues. We have a group of adult and student leaders who are already exploring a “be the change” club as a result of the positive impact Challenge Day has had on them.”
The lasting impacts and the social-emotional learning are two of the reasons Stevens keeps bring Challenge Day back for the students.
“First and foremost, I don’t look at Challenge Day as a one and done assembly. Often times when you bring in speakers or have assemblies, they are good for our kids, but the lasting impression on them is only that day, or a couple of days after,” said Stevens. “In Challenge Day, I have seen a culture change in our school that lasts the whole year. I have talked to kids that graduated years ago, that still bring up their experience at Challenge Day. I have had kids tell me that they have altered how they interact with and see others because of there experiences at Challenge Day. Two different years, kids started up a club called “Be the Change,” after Challenge Day was over.”