Unity club saved my life. As a young girl in my first year of high school, I had a hard time adjusting to my new reality. I had no friends and was badly bullied to the point where I had no desire to wake up in the morning and go to school. I felt alone, scared, and unsafe. I was undiagnosed with ADD and had high anxiety at the time. I got frustrated easily, was insecure, and hated myself for feeling this way. Towards the middle of my grade 8 year, I started getting into trouble and hanging out with people who weren’t the greatest influence on me. Then, one day we had a math substitute teacher and per usual, I was fooling around in class and the teacher sent me down to the office. That is when I met the vice principal, Mr. Lancaster. He brought me into his office, sat me down in front of him, looked me in the eye and said 5 words that I had not heard in a long time, “You’re a good kid Sarah”. He then proceeded to tell me about a program in Hugh Boyd that he believed would help me adjust to high school and help me with my struggles. I was angry with him for believing he could solve everything with one short conversation and a pat on my back. I had no hope that this was going to work; he was just an adult who barely knew anything about me. That is when I met Ms. Scott, a loving, bubbly teacher who saw the good in me. One of the first people in my life who made me feel special. Because of her, I believe in myself and my ability to make today a better tomorrow. She told me about Unity Club and the kids in it. She introduced me to the happiest, fun, caring group of kids I had ever met. At first I was worried that I would do something wrong or say something that could unintentionally hurt someone. But after awhile, I made my first connection. He’s a boy, not too much older than me named Tom. Every time he saw me, he would proceed to ask me the same three questions he always asks, “Do you like chicken? Do you like chocolate? Do you like rain?” I loved hearing him pronounce my name because he always had trouble saying the AH sound at the end of Sarah. We would always laugh about it afterwards. Tom was the first person at Hugh Boyd to make me laugh, he was the first friendly face I saw in the hallways, and he was my first friend. After Tom, I met Ryleigh who happily squeals whenever he sees me and yells out my name when I walk into the room. I then met other kids like Shawn who loved to give me hugs, or Keegan who loves to show me his dance moves. I spent every lunch break in room 123. Unity club gave me a place where I belonged. Unity club reinvented me and gave me a place where I could feel safe. Although the bullying did not end for the next two years, Unity club gave me something to look forward to every day. Unity club means the world to me and gave me happy memories. Now, I get to share those memories with my sister, Gabby. I want to give a big thanks to Ms. Scott, Mr. Lancaster, other volunteers, and everyone who made this a possibility.
This is my first year sponsoring a Unity Club at Richmond Secondary. Ironically, it all began at our school with the vision and passion of a motivated student, Imran Sumar. After he graduated, the club had unfortunately subsided over the years, due to the lack of time and finding sponsors but after seeing the Unity Clubs being run at other schools, I decided to sponsor it this year.
The Unity Club promotes positivity and coming together to have fun. We have created Tuesdays as our “Unity Tuesday” and it is so wonderful to see all the students of all different abilities unite during lunchtime to play games and enjoy treats together. We have students who typically were going home for lunch, now stay because they look forward to and cherish this time. The leaders show empathy and caring and it is rewarding to be a part of something that gives me pride in our school community. On a personal note, not only am I an educational assistant supporting students with varying disabilities, I am also a mother of a son with special needs so I understand first hand how it can be difficult for those students to find a place where they can feel comfortable and feel accepted. I am grateful to Imran who planted the seeds to such an inspiring club, which has now flourished into many more clubs around the district. Imran, who is now a university student, still plays a large role in supporting all the Unity Clubs and it is refreshing to see such a compassionate young man making such a positive difference.
Each year, the Unity Clubs from all the schools come together for their biggest event, the Spirit Dance and we are extremely excited this year to have the opportunity to host it at Richmond Secondary. It will be on Thursday, June 1st from 6 – 8pm and the theme is a Pajama Party! I look forward to seeing students and Unity Club members in their cute pajamas and can’t wait to see all the smiles.
Having been a Unity Club executive at RC Palmer for two years, and a city-wide leader afterwards, I have seen first-hand what an impact the Unity Club has on students with varying abilities. I formed great friendships with the students in my school club, and they agreed to attend the dance. As the years went on, the dances grew larger and the students enjoyed them even more. I continuously have the pleasure of meeting bright, compassionate leaders from various Richmond secondary schools. These students brainstorm ideas together, plan and coordinate events, in addition to their impressive involvement in their school clubs. On the other side, I’ve also had the pleasure of dancing and celebrating with energetic and excited students with different abilities. This club truly merges all students, creating a sense of belonging and free-hearted spirit. It allows us all to connect to one another, and for that, I love and enjoy being involved in Unity Club.
Haley Borthwick, Resource Teacher, Anderson Elementary
Unity Club at Anderson is the first elementary school that has successfully started Unity Club. The club has been very successful and well attended at Anderson. We have so many students coming every week that we have to use the gym for activities, a classroom is just not big enough. For the students at Anderson, Unity Club is just something fun to do at lunch. The leaders organize activities in the gym and everyone has a lot of fun participating in them. When you look around the gym during this time all you see are a bunch of kids having fun together. It is truly inclusive and celebrates diversity.
Ms. Lisa Zuccolo, Resource Teacher, Burnett Secondary
The Unity Club brings students of all backgrounds together for one common goal and that is friendship and fun. No one looks at the outward, it’s the inner spirit that bongs us together.
Ms. Clare Scott, Resource Teacher, Hugh Boyd Secondary
Being the sponsor of the Unity Club at Hugh Boyd has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Being able to step back and see members take charge, and show not only their incredible leadership skills, but their compassion for our students who face daily challenges – has been an overwhelmingly heart warming experience to witness from the sidelines. The youth I see today, in this group, are an incredible collection of empathic students who will go out of their way to not only volunteer their time, but share their positive energy with these students who do not normally get to experience such activities, like a high school dance, with their typical peers in such a fun, real life experience! We all came away from this event feeling positive, happy and proud of another successful gathering of teens all feeling included and part of something very special.
Ms. Eve Minuk, Resource Teacher, MacNeil Secondary
As a teacher in a high school, I have the pleasure of volunteering as a supervisor for school dances. One dance stands out in my mind. Not because is was the most fun, the most exciting or the best attended- it stood out because one of my Life Skills students, who has a significant disability, attended the dance. I was thrilled to see her in attendance; I had encouraged all my students to go, yet she was the only one who came. When I asked her why she was leaving, she could no longer hold back her tears and said that no-one would dance with her. I was devastated, my heart broke for her. I vowed then and there this would NEVER happen again; I was determined to plan a dance where students with significant disabilities would feel included. The next year the Spirit Dance was born, that was five years ago!
The first Spirit Dance was at Cambie Secondary. Several students attended, yet they came from only a handful of schools. The following year, the dance was at Hugh Boyd Secondary; this was the first year we had Unity Club leaders along side our students; it was a turning point for the Spirit Dance. Each year the Spirit Dance has grown in popularity, last year it was at MacNeill Secondary and this year it was at Burnett. We now have almost every high school represented at the dance, as well as a large number of UC leaders who have been together with our UC members throughout the year. The Spirit Dance is our culminating activity. This year we also had district Unity Club turnout for our now annual Bowling Night and Movie Night. Next year we plan to add a BBQ Night… After that, who knows?!
There is something so very special when I stand back during the Spirit Dance and look out on a sea of teenagers all having a great time talking, eating, dancing and most importantly, feeling included. Life doesn’t get much better!
Unity Club 