Group's Challenge Day helps students break down barriers, be themselves

At every school, in every town, in every state, name-calling, bullying, and put-downs are commonplace. Barrington High School is no different. What is different about Barrington High School is its commitment to ending this trend.

For the past four years, under the guidance of Code Red, a leadership group, the school has participated in Challenge Day.

"Challenge Day is an attempt to break down stereotypes and a way for kids to come together in an atmosphere that allows them to get to know each other and understand cultural diversity," said Dan Young.

Dan, a physical education teacher, and his wife, Debbie, a special education teacher at the school, are the sponsors of the program.

"It all started when my wife and I took about 20 random students to the Mid-Suburban League Leadership Summit," Young said. "From that, the kids were motivated to make their school a better place. So, they decided to form Code Red."

That was six years ago. Since then, Code Red has provided school and community services. Activities have included providing Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts to the needy. When one Code Red member saw a TV story on Challenge Day, she brought it to the group and ever since the high school has hosted the event.

This year's activities for Challenge Day included analyzing Disney movie clips for how they silhouette everyday lives. Also, a card game matched personality traits. If someone got a patience card and they possessed enough patience, they would turn it in. If they needed more patience, they would take an additional card.

Guest speaker, guidance counselor Ray Paigitini, entranced the children with his presentation. It involved them holding rocks with their eyes closed, then putting the rocks in a circle, and upon opening their eyes, trying to recognize their personal rock.

"The point is you only see your own rock. In life, you only see things that you are familiar with. You don't notice people that don't look like you. It was very powerful," said Young.

Paigitini's presentation was a favorite for Erin Rappleye. The 18-year-old senior from Barrington was impressed by one exercise in particular.

"He told us to go to a spot where we felt we belonged," said Rappleye. "You didn't know at first what the directions meant. Then he explained south meant you were a healer and a listener; west meant you were a teacher and helped people reach their goals. It was cool that you could kind of see how that made sense with your personality."

Other guest speakers included football coach Joe Sanchez and social studies teacher Ty Gorman, who concentrated on a pay-it-forward theme.

The group also played Walk the Line. The activity involves going to one side or the other of a line based on true and false questions. Questions included have you have been teased because of your body type? Have you ever been teased about your religious beliefs?

"What it does is shows that we've all been teased at one time or another because of something we've done or something that was considered not normal," said Young. "The hope is, it would stop criticism and making fun of each other."

Justin Smith, 17, a senior from North Barrington, also attended Challenge Day. He enjoyed the Egyptian game.

"You work as a team to get one person across the gym without touching the floor or dropping the water in a cup," he said. "We all laid on the floor as that person walked over us, and kept getting up to form a continuous cycle of people."

Smith said it taught him a valuable lesson about how anything can be accomplished if you set your mind to it. Smith learned a similar lesson when he first came to his school as a junior. At that time, he could have been a poster child for Challenge Day.

"Because I moved here in junior year, people right away stereotyped me as the Wisconsin kid," said Smith. "Anytime I'd say something in class, immediately they would think I was nerdy, quiet, and a shy kid. I'm really not so much. I was acting different from myself because I didn't know anyone."

Smith said he overcame such obstacles by joining the swim team, performing in school plays and going out of his way to talk to others.

"It didn't make me feel very good," he said. "I felt misused, disliked and kind of useless. I thought if people got to know me, we could be friends. Challenge Day is a great way to start that process for others."