With special event weeks, Leadership aims to create opportunities to promote healthy life choices

While students filed out of the gym after listening to their classmates’ experiences with breaking barriers as Speak Up For Change week last January, several conversations were sparked reflecting on the speeches they had just heard.

According to Leadership teacher Matthew Torrens, the addition of these important weeks such as Speak Up For Change, Red Ribbon and a newly added Breaking Down the Walls week raises awareness and increases the number of opportunities for students to start conversations about important issues on campus.

“We can’t change kids’ behaviors, but we can remind them to think about things,” Torrens said.

Torrens said he teaches his Leadership students, who help plan and run the special weeks, that their goal is to give students the right tools and opportunities to make the right decision.

In order to start these conversations, ASB president Roshan Verma said Leadership puts a lot of work into preparing for impactful weeks like these.

Verma said that the majority of the annual Red Ribbon week, which took place from Sept. 24-28, promotes awareness about the dangers of substance abuse and is organized by Leadership’s outreach commission.

The Red Ribbon Week started at the school four years ago and localizes the national Red Ribbon Week.

Verma said Leadership students hope to use their platform to “relay the truth about drug and alcohol use and their negative effects on people.”

By contrast, this fall’s Breaking Down Walls week was organized by the administration and Torrens.

Breaking Down Walls, taking place Oct. 22-26, aim for students to get to know other students better and to break down some of the walls that exist between social groups.

. The impact of these special weeks is recognized by many students.

Sophomore Jasmin Reddy noted that when Speak Up For Change week occurred last January, the assemblies started a conversation between her friends about their experiences with breaking expectations and overcoming difficult challenges.

The same idea applies for Red Ribbon Week, and Torrens said he hopes Breaking Down the Walls will achieve the same outcome.

Nonetheless, Torrens, Verma and the Leadership class are aware that they cannot change students’ actions but instead impact the students in other ways.

“People start talking about it and recognize these weeks and the messages behind them,” Verma said. “We’re empowering students with the information needed to make good and smart decisions, and we hope they take the opportunity to do so.”

Verma feels that these weeks open up discussions on campus about topics that are traditionally “taboo.”

“By hosting these weeks we create an impact that we hope will last long past that one week and change our campus culture for years to come,” Verma said. “It’s a slow and steady process, but we hope to raise awareness about the dangerous impacts of substance use and the implications of not being inclusive and diverse.”