Program helps Medical Lake teens find common ground

Cheerleaders were hugging majorettes, geeks were hugging freaks, and there may have been a sighting of a truant wrapping his loving arms around a teacher.

It was all part of Challenge Day, a nationally recognized nonprofit program designed to break down high school stereotypes to create a school where every student feels safe and loved.

Medical Lake High School administered the program to 200 students randomly selected from the 725 enrolled. One hundred students participated in the daylong program on Tuesday, and another 100 were selected for Wednesday. Administrators, teachers and parents joined in as facilitators.

“I’ve seen a lot of programs that are marginal and adequate, but on a scale of one to 10, this has to be a 10,” said Scott Blassingame, MLHS principal and Challenge Day facilitator.

“When I see kids getting up and apologizing to other kids for mistreating them … they had us crossing over lines.”

Challenge Day Program was created in Martinez, Calif., by Yvonne and Rich St. John-Dutra in 1987. The two were motivated by memories of their own teenage experiences.

Val Von Lehe, a longtime Medical Lake health teacher, was familiar with the program and helped bring it to Medical Lake. She’d been working on it since last school year. However, Blassingame said an October incident, when a 14-year-old student was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and Medical Lake High went into “semi-lockdown,” added incentive.

“When I’d show my classes a Challenge Day film about surviving in high school, they’d say, ‘We need to have it here,’ ” Von Lehe said.

After months of organizing – which involved raising $7,000 from the school and community to pay for the program – Von Lehe’s vision became real this week. Medical Lake is the first school in the area to offer the program.

For two days, the Challenge Day students were summoned to the gym, where they partook in games, listened, talked, cried and did whatever it took to break down stereotypes. The session was led by Challenge Day’s Pam Dunn, a charismatic, energetic African American women who has worked for the program for over one year, and Vinny Ferraro, a laid-back Californian with enough arm art to fill a tattoo parlor.

Although part of Challenge Day is spent playing games, it was not all fun.

One exercise is called “the power shuffle,” and for good reason. People stand in a line and cross the line when they can answer yes to a series of questions, such as, “Have you ever been teased about being fat?” or, “Do you know someone who has been hurt by violence or gang activity?”

The purpose of the exercise is for people to get a sense there are a lot of people going through what they are going through. Many said it was the exercise with the most impact.

“Today was a great experience,” said sophomore Justin Morrow. “I usually don’t talk to people about my problems, but I felt comfortable.”

Ferraro, who has worked with more than 40,000 students over four years, said Challenge Day is about more than feeling good for the day, or however long it lasts.

“What we’re feeling in this room is getting real,” he said.

Ferraro added that the primary lesson is people have the same problems.

“Don’t feel alone,’ he said. “They’re all going through the same similar stuff, except people don’t talk about it.”