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Seventh-grade student urges classmates to 'be an upstander' during District 25 leadership meeting
Summary
A seventh-grade student from PS/IS 499 delivered a Project Soapbox speech at the District 25 leadership meeting urging peers to intervene in bullying. District leaders praised the presentation and discussed extending respect-and-kindness programming beyond a single week.
Raisa, a seventh-grade student at PS/IS 499, told the District 25 leadership team she intervened when she saw a friend being bullied and urged peers to “be an upstander” rather than a bystander.
The student delivered a Project Soapbox speech during the district leadership meeting as part of Respect for All week. Raisa recounted an incident in which two students were attacking a friend and said her priorities were “to check if she was okay” and “to stand up for my friend and confront her bullies.” She closed: “Be an upstander to bullying because it’s the right thing to do.”
District leaders said the speech underscored the value of giving students civic platforms and discussed ways to extend the message beyond a single commemorative week. Eduardo (DLT member) praised Raisa’s courage and noted a cultural problem where some bystanders record incidents on phones rather than helping: “We need to change that. We need to change that culture, helping one another instead of trying to record some sort of viral video.” Rob (DLT member) and Eden (CEC representative) also said the soapbox presentations help students organize their ideas and influence peers.
Speakers recommended practical steps to sustain the message. Charnette (parent/CEC leader) and others proposed creating recurring, school-level activities such as monthly character or kindness days and offered to compile district guidance so schools without existing programming could adopt consistent practices. Monique (DC 37 representative) emphasized that empathy and adult modeling matter: “Leading by example within the school building, how teachers interact with each other, how staff interacts with each other is big.”
Why it matters: the presentation linked student voice, civic education and social-emotional learning. District leaders said they will return in March with draft recommendations for routine, school-level practices to promote respect and kindness, and they signaled plans to use civics-for-all opportunities later in the year for broader student calls to action.
Less-critical details: the soapbox appearance occurred during the DLT meeting’s public/student presentation segment and was followed by a short round of comments from DLT members, the CEC and DC 37 representatives. The district said a larger civics-for-all day later in the year will offer another public platform for student advocates.
