Today we hosted our quarterly board meeting. We had tremendous turn out and a very full agenda. Our board is comprised of community leaders, thinkers, philanthropists, parents, business owners, lawyers, investment bankers, and school staff, to name but a few of the professions represented on our board. And, today we shared a powerful, and dare I say, emotional experience together. We listened to the stories of students we serve. We heard from a high school Senior who lost her father during middle school and then her family home to a house fire only last year. Her sense of isolation, desperation and sadness emotionally paralyzed her until she started to talk with the STARS counselor at her school. Through her work with STARS, this young woman is confident about her future and her ability to work through the twists and turns the path of life puts before her. We heard from another high school Senior, a young man who has been tormented by bullies since he was 5-years old. He shared with us the helplessness he felt when he tried to have his school intervene. This brave young man even went to the home of one of his bullies to plead with the parents to have their child stop. Instead, this young man was screamed at and threatened by the bully’s father. There was a collective gasp in the room when we heard this. Only until he started to work with his STARS counselor did he start to establish assuredness and self-confidence. He started to journal as a therapeutic exercise to help him work through the pain. Today, he has written a book of his experience. He declared his committment to make sure victims of bullying and harrassment have a voice to stand up for themselves.
It makes a difference how you treat people. It makes a difference how you offer kindness. STARS makes a difference in the lives of young people.
