Leechburg Area's anti-bullying effort shows youngsters how to be BRAVE
Tyler Waltenbaugh can still remember the excitement in his Leechburg Area elementary school when the district's high school students stopped in for the occasional volunteer session.
Now a senior himself, Waltenbaugh is looking to pay that feeling forward.
The 18-year-old West Leechburg native is helping to lead an organization of high school students who serve as mentors to the district's younger grades. The program is called BRAVE — for Be Responsible And Value Everybody — and in its second year, it's nearly doubled in participation and is expanding its reach across the district.
“When I was in the elementary school, I looked up to the high school guys, and I wanted to be just like them,” Waltenbaugh said. “I'm hoping we can pass that on and make an impact by helping build a community atmosphere through our involvement with the younger students.”
BRAVE was founded last school year by then-senior Kristen Miskinis, who wanted to implement a program that took a proactive approach in preventing bullying. All of the existing programs in the district, she said, educated students about bullying, but did nothing to stop it at its source.
Miskinis pitched the program in December to the Leechburg Area School Board, who lauded her efforts and unanimously endorsed her idea.
By spring, the program had 32 high school students who spent their lunches and open periods at the elementary school, tutoring students, educating them about bullying or volunteering in their gym classes.
This year, more than 50 high school students are volunteering through the program, the reach of which is expanding to include junior high school students and district newcomers of all ages.
The latter resonates with BRAVE's co-student leader Destiney Beavers, who moved into the district from the state of Indiana in ninth grade.
“Heading into high school is always a tough time, but it's even harder when you're coming in from out of state,” said Beavers, 18, of Leechburg. “I could have used something like this, and I'm looking forward to helping some of those people out. In Indiana, I was involved in a Big Brother Big Sister program, and I'm planning on bringing some of the things I learned there to BRAVE.”
On Tuesday, the students who signed up as mentors participated in afternoon team-building exercises to prepare for their year-round service. The exercises were led by Kelly Sadler, a district guidance counsellor who serves as faculty adviser to the group.
“We're teaching them that, even though they'll have individual assignments, they're going to work as a team,” Sadler said. “If one of them drops the ball on something, it reflects on all of them. It's all on them, they can make it as great as they want it to be here.”
Leechburg Area's campus lends itself well to the program. The district's three schools are conjoined along Siberian Avenue, which allows mentors to transition easily from volunteer work to their own classroom studies.
One elementary student who is grateful for that fact is 8-year-old Cassidy Wright, who enjoyed the time she spent with her high school mentors last year in her second-grade class. This year, she said, she's looking forward to more high school students making their way down to her third-grade classroom.
“It's really fun because they're older,” Wright said. “They read to us. They teach us about bullying. They help with school work. I want to be like them.”
Leechburg Area Principal Matt Kruluts said Wright's reception of the program is consistent with the sentiment across the district.
“It's been really well received,” she said. “I think these students saw a need for a program like this when they were in elementary school, and they stepped up and filled the void when it was their time. It says a lot about the students in this district that so many are willing to donate their time and energy to building an inclusive and community atmosphere.”
Braden Ashe is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.
