Highlands Middle School students are learning about kindness and diversity through a young girl they never met.
The district joined an Allentown-based initiative, “Mikayla’s Voice,” to help create a culture of inclusion, Principal Becky Bragan said.
“We want to educate the kids about diversity, not just through one-offs,” Bragan said. “We want to embed kindness through repeated activities and opportunities.”
The nonprofit Mikayla’s Voice was started in 2010. It was prompted by a student with multiple disabilities whose third-grade classmates wrote and illustrated a book about their friend.
“These young authors told Mikayla’s story, giving her a voice through which to share some of life’s most valuable lessons,” the program’s website says.
“Everyone can be Mikayla’s Voice — a voice for friendship.”
At Highlands, students participated in an anti-bullying presentation focused on empathy, respect and understanding differences.
A smaller group of general education students was selected as mentors and paired with a group of students with different abilities for a collaborative art project. They painted individual pieces of a kaleidoscope, but the main lesson was building meaningful relationships.
“I liked painting and learning about different kinds of people,” said seventh-grader Brandi Rayburn, 13. “I kind of already thought that way — it’s nice to be nice.”
Highlands is among a limited number of regional schools to participate in the initiative, funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through a Bureau of Special Education grant, said Amber Dean, district director of student services.
She touted the program as a way to represent diversity as a strength and teach kids about a variety of backgrounds.
Middle School mentors will be tapped next year to be buddies to rising fifth graders and show them the ropes at the school. They’ll also visit the early childhood center to paint kindness rocks with kindergartners and read to them books about empathy and connection.
Bragan intends to make the mentorship program a recurring event for seventh graders so leadership becomes systematic.
Thirteen-year-old Rachel Ringer said she wishes she had had a mentor to welcome her as a tentative newbie to the building. She’s excited to fill the role.
“I like helping,” she said. “I think it’s good to represent people who need help finding their way.”
