For the past few months, the Peer Leaders and the class of 2019 teamed up to create a series of “Respect Projects.” The classes came together and showed our school some Hills Pride by showing their peers what it means to respect one another.
The “Respect Project” was assigned to the Peer Leaders and to their freshman groups back in December. From there, groups came up with some amazing projects that all focused around the common theme of respect. Some of the projects included community service, videos, scrapbooks, pictures, and movie reenactments.
Peer Group 17 spent an afternoon at the A&P in Woodcliff Lake, collecting donations from shoppers. After fundraising, they took the money that they had raised, bought non-perishable canned goods, and brought these canned goods to a local food pantry. Not only did this project provide meals for those at the food pantry, but it also benefitted the peers and freshmen in Group 17. They came together for a greater cause, displaying respect for each other, and for those who are less fortunate.
According to Ms. Marootian, the goal in developing this project was “to show the sense of community that the peers and freshman have fostered through working together [this year].” Group 17 took that goal to another level and showed not only PHHS, but also the entire Montvale and Woodcliff Lake community, how they could work together and put their efforts towards a greater cause. Timmy Belden, a freshman in Group 17, said, “it felt good to help the less fortunate and [show our] respect [for] them by lending a hand and making sure they do not feel helpless and hungry.” Through these projects, the freshmen and their peers were able to bond and spend time outside of school with their groups. They learned to respect people that they may not have encountered on an everyday basis.
Group 18 decided to focus on the issue of stereotyping. Group 18 portrayed scenes from different movies and explained how these scenes displayed stereotyping. They emphasized the idea that stereotyping is not showing someone respect. The group portrayed a scene from the movie Easy A. In this movie, a girl is portrayed as “easy” even though she has not done anything to deserve this title. The freshmen acted out a scene from the movie and explained why it is wrong to stereotype someone before you get the chance to know them. Even though stereotyping was done to enhance the plot of the movie, students emphasized that stereotyping is not as “cool” as it appears in movies and that is just another form of disrespect. The freshmen decided that stereotyping was not something that they wanted to be a part of, and took a stance against it.
Even though the “Respect Projects” were exclusive to Peer Leaders and the class of 2019, the freshmen spread respect to all of Pascack Hills. Peer Group 7 made bracelets that have positive sayings on them such as “be positive,” “be happy,” and “don’t bully.” Group 7 passed the bracelets out to some of their peers and challenged them to pass these bracelets on to others. Their goal was to create a positive attitude throughout all of Hills, by brightening up someone’s day with something as little as a bracelet. Group 7’s goal was to create a chain reaction of respect throughout the school. They figured that if students saw others wearing a respect bracelet, they would be motivated to be respectful. Group 7’s goal was to create a chain-reaction, a reaction of respect.
Here it is, Hills: our challenge to you. We hope you pass on the respect that you read about here. Hills features respect during “Respect Week,” that does not mean that respect should only be encouraged, shared, and enforced during that one week. That week should inspire you, just like it inspired the peers and their freshmen to come up with some truly amazing projects. Respect is a key component to unity and peace in our community; make sure you do your part.
