It so happens that Austin ISD is the largest Anti-Defamation League No Place for Hate district in the entire country. All 130 schools have planned, completed, and documented intentional student-led activities designed to raise awareness around bias, bullying, and prejudice, and to build a positive school culture of inclusiveness and safety. Students from pre-kindergarten through high school seniors have participated in these opportunities to increase the peace.  Here are just a few examples of how some schools have declared themselves No Place for Hate!

Kealing and Lamar Middle Schools have both created lessons to bring attention to bias and microaggressions.  Their work to bring attention to these issues on a local, campus level is the first step toward addressing bias, prejudice and racism on a societal level.  Here’s a video from Lamar Middle School with AVID student-generated examples of microaggressions that was included in an SEL lesson for the entire campus:

Kealing Middle School asked students to think of microaggressions they had heard or experienced as well, and then invited students to think of assertive ways to address the microaggression:

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At Zilker Elementary, students participated in a March Forth for Peace on…you guessed it! March 4th! The parade was a culminating event organized by the Zilker counselor, Ms. Vreeland, celebrating lessons that the students had learned about friendship, empathy, and being an ally.  The whole Zilker community sang a special peace song led by music teacher Ms. Garcia, and students decorated t-shirts and posters to show their spirit of peace!  Every single teacher, student, and hundreds of parents Marched Forth for peace that lovely spring day.

McCallum High School had a week-long “No Hate” campaign involving a t-shirt logo contest, a “just be you” photo booth, No H8 face painting at lunch, and the reading of a student-generated play about issues faced by LBGTQ+ students for the whole faculty (in partnership with Creative Action‘s Outside the Lines project). In one way or another, every student and faculty member participated in building and celebrating McCallum’s welcoming culture!

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Travis High School students planted a peace garden in a courtyard, and had everyone on campus sign the ADL Resolution of Respect.  They created a visual symbol of the Resolution using hundreds of handprints and posted it on a long window in the cafeteria, showing off the solidarity of their learning community with panoramic stained glass effects!

They also hosted a Peace Through Pie event (and pie eating contest!), and this year it was attended by the founder of the Peace Through Pie movement!  Like Lamar Middle School’s similar Peace Through Pie evening, it commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and seeks to build peaceful community ties through sharing pies of all kinds.

AISD Short Peace Thru Pie 2015 from Austin ISD TV on Vimeo.

Finally, Bowie High School planned and carried out their own No Place for Hate parade, and a student documented the campus-wide event in this inspiring video…

Jillian Bontke, the Anti-Defamation League’s Austin Education Project Director, shared feedback from educators around the district about the impact Social and Emotional Learning and No Place for Hate has had on their campuses:

No Place for Hate, in combination with SEL lessons, positively impacts our campus by raising awareness of biased behavior, increasing ally behavior, and decreasing name calling.

–O.Henry Middle School Teacher

Our campus has worked hard to create a positive climate through social emotional learning and explicit teaching about self regulation and the brain.  However, No Place for Hate has brought our climate to a new level of acceptance in and around our community.  Our focus this year has been on empathy.  I knew our school had very strong skills in providing empathy to our peers and teachers; however, I had not anticipated such growth in empathy for our community, including dispelling stereotypes in our community and developing empathy for those in our community experiencing homelessness.

–Cunningham Elementary School Teacher

Students have been exposed to SEL for several years now and the additional activities they are involved in for No Place for Hate enhance so much of the learning that goes on through SEL. It actually gives them more hands on opportunities to practice skills.

–Mollie Dawson Elementary School Counselor

No Place for Hate reminds student of what they are learning during their SEL lessons and counselor lessons. The activities reinforce kindness and inclusiveness and have the ability to impact the entire school – reinforcing the same message across grade levels.

–Zilker Elementary School Counselor

No Place for Hate is a good supplement to SEL and both are really supported by our administration this year.  Kids are reminding each other to be kind, be positive, breathe deeply, support each other.

–Pillow Elementary Counselor

I feel that NPFH has really benefited Dobie, and I truly even feel that it has improved our students writing skills! The thought provoking topics the students talk about and  the Social Emotional Aspect and writing about their feelings, really helps them to express themselves through words.

–J. Frank Dobie Early College Preparatory Academy Counselor

No Place for Hate, in combination with SEL lessons, positively impacts our campus by raising awareness of biased behavior, increasing ally behavior, and decreasing name calling.

–O.Henry Middle School Counselor

[We have seen a] decrease in name calling and teasing report, [and an] increase in kind acts and helpfulness, we were designated as a SEL Model Campus due to the positive social and emotional skills our students consistently show.

–Robert E.Lee Elementary Counselor

Students and teachers have reported feeling more like a family. Our staff and student body is closer than even and there is a feeling of pride and excitement as you walk the halls in our school. Some of our 5th graders have reported having new friends and talking to more peers in their classroom – not just those peers who were previously in their “cliques.” Every 3rd Friday of the month, we now recognize two students from each grade for demonstrating their SEL skills because we have noticed that students are showing respect, kindness, and responsibility around the school. We connect these acts of maturity to SEL and No Place for Hate because these two programs have educated students and helped them become better members of our school community.

–Edward L. Blackshear Elementary School Counselor

We are sure #AISDProud of our district’s national No Place for Hate status.  Teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and students are working hard to create welcoming, inclusive learning environments every day. Onward to an increasingly peaceful future!