Dover will host a week of anti-bullying messages

Dover City Schools are working to combat bullying with a week-long push to bring awareness of the problem to the forefront. The first week of October will see several events aimed at education and understanding among faculty and students.

Spearheaded by the efforts of Dover City Parks Superintendent Scott Jerles, the week of anti-bullying messages is financed through fundraising efforts and sponsorships. Jerles said the week features speakers with a genuine ability to relate to both younger and older students.

An assembly at each school will begin the week of Oct. 1. Speaking at the middle school and high school will be Elec Simon, an Ohio native whose band, QStix Percussion, provides music at Cleveland Cavaliers home games.

Known for a big voice and an equally large campaign against bullying, Simon speaks to school assemblies around the region. Simon also is known as a musical cast member of the Broadway show, “Stomp.” Simon began speaking out against bullying when he lost friends to suicide due to bullying by peers.

“Elec Simon is just a great guy and a very effective speaker,” Jerles said. “I know he relates so well with kids at the middle school and high school levels.”

At Dover Elementary School, assemblies the same day, the featured speaker will be Jim “Basketball” Jones.

Jerles said Jones is from the Dayton area and now speaks out against bullying all over the country. “I know he has spoken at Dover schools before,” he said. “He has a very effective message for the younger students.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m., field number nine at Dover City Park on Wooster Avenue will become an outdoor movie theater. “Wonder” will be shown on a large screen there. Jerles said the entire community is welcome to come out to see the movie.

“It’s the story of a 10-year-old trying to make his way in school with a facial deformity. It’s very hard for this student to adapt to a school environment. It’s a great film with a strong message,” Jerles said.

Jerles said people should bring a chair or blanket for the movie, for which there is no charge to attend.

Dover High School principal Teresa Alberts said students can sign an anti-bullying pledge and get a free T-shirt for doing so. “And the students are encouraged to wear their shirts for the Oct. 1 assemblies,” Alberts said.

Jerles said the shirts feature the anti-bullying slogan adopted for the effort he works to advance: #2Gether We Stand. The back side of the shirt says, “Stand Up. Speak Out. Stop Bullying.”

Both Alberts and Jerles said the week’s planning got a lot of help and input from the school’s student-led Youth2Youth organization.

“This is all possible because of the fundraising we’ve done and the sponsorships we’ve been able to get,” Jerles said. “We were able to raise $10,000 over the past year. No school money is involved in putting this together, and the school has really been on board with the whole effort.”

Jerles said he wanted to get the community thinking about bullying in schools. “A lot of adults remember being bullied as kids, and a lot of kids face those kinds of things now. I just thought there was a need to do something.”

Alberts said the whole face of bullying has changed in recent years. “It’s not so much the face-to-face problems now, not so much a problem within the building. Now it’s more prevalent in social media. It’s social or emotional bullying now, which is pretty difficult to endure. Of course we don’t want to see bullying anywhere for any reason.”