Bells Elementary School Designates Itself as No Place for Hate with Building-Wide Group Hug
Bells students (clockwise from lower left) Christian Hoopes, Dominic Aquilino, Lily Chen, Ana McCarry and Conor Pozniewski carried out a banner designating the school as “No Place for Hate” during a school-wide assembly on October 30th.
What better way to force the hate out of a place than to hug it out? On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Bells Elementary School students and staff assembled around the periphery of the school’s courtyard to “hug” their school and, in a symbolic way, force hate out. Bells Elementary is one of five Washington Township School’s piloting the Philadelphia Anti-Defamation League’s “No Place for Hate” program in 2018-19 school year.
Students discussed ways to keep hate out of Bells and then wrote these strategies on feathers that are being posted in a hallway display.
Bells Elementary School principal Ginny Grier addresses all students and staff about the importance of the designation of “No Place for Hate.”
Bells students and staff enveloped the courtyard in a symbolic group hug, forcing out hate.