Updated 05/06/2013 07:40 PM
Teacher wears one outfit the entire year to fight bullying
READING
ROTTERDAM, N.Y. -- Faith Perry is an Alternative Education and ESL teacher at Mohonasen High. Her fashion choices over the past two years have also been considered alternative.
“I'm wearing the same outfit that I've worn since the first day of school,” she told YNN.
Since last spring, Perry has worn just two outfits to school.
“Last year, there was a young man in here who couldn't afford to buy a lot of clothes, so he would wear the same things often and one day, he was called a scumbag for wearing the same clothes two days in a row,” she explained. “And then I said, ‘Well, I'll wear this outfit for two weeks!’”
Two weeks turned into the rest of the school year or four months. The decision then carried into the 2012-2013 school year.
Perry calls it her ‘outfit against bullying.’
She said, “As a society, we judge people, whether it's what we wear, our race, our sexual orientation, any of those things, and there's no reason to be bullied for those things.”
Senior Nicholas Rapp laughed as he said, “I never even noticed about her clothes, to be honest.”
Senior Nicholas Rapp laughed as he said, “I never even noticed about her clothes, to be honest.”
Perry has been teaching him for all four years of high school.
Rapp added, “I see a wonderful person. She's definitely wonderful no matter what she's wearing or how she looks.”
If you start seeing repeat outfits across the district, that’s because Perry’s initiative is moving beyond Room 36 and into other schools, including Pinewood Intermediate. Principal Deborah Kavanaugh heard of Perry’s decision.
“That's infectious for us. We want to follow that,” she exclaimed.
As a result, this week, she and several other faculty members will also be wearing the same outfit every single day. It’s all in an effort to keep sharing that same message of respect.
“We are who we are every day,” said Kavanaugh. “Even if we show up in the same outfit, that we're still the same people, we're hoping that kids will get that message too.”
As for whether other students would get on board, Rapp answered, “I would. I mean, maybe not as long as she [Perry] would.”
And that’s going to be for some time.
“I'm going to do it for the rest of my career,” Perry said. “Every year, I'm going to pick an outfit and that will be my stance for every year until bullying stops.”
SOURCE: Your News Now
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DISCUSS
1) what procedure could you bring into your classroom to deal with bullies?
2) How could you use this story in your classroom?
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