Students across the country are gearing up for the third annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day, which takes place this year on November 16. Sponsored by Tolerance.org and Teaching Tolerance in collaboration with Study Circles Resource Center, Mix It Up at Lunch Day encourages students to swap seats in the school cafeteria as an effort to cross social boundaries.Last year about 2 million students at almost 7,000 schools across the country participated in the event. With an increased focus on youth activism, this year’s event is expected to be an even bigger success. “We want to make Mix It Up at Lunch Day even more of a student-driven youth initiative,” said Lecia Brooks, Mix It Up director. “We want youth to see that this is activism, and it can lead them to creating real, sustained change on their school campuses.”
In past years, some students’ participation in Mix It Up at Lunch Day has been teacher-driven, as many teachers assign the event as a class activity. “It’s one thing for youth to do this because it’s assigned. But when we empower youth to take charge of this activity and really organize it on their own, it’s so much more meaningful,” Brooks said. “It’s important for students to see that they can take charge and take responsibility for their school environments, and that adults can support them.”
The Mix It Up project is reaching out to student leaders with some exciting new features on the Mix It Up website. The site offers suggestions and guidance for student activists and provides links to existing youth activism organizations.
A new artists’ space on the Mix It Up website is planned for 2005, giving youth activists an arena to express their views on social boundaries through poetry and art.
Mix It Up moves outside the lunchroom this year, too, with Mix It Up Dialogue Groups, which help students talk openly and honestly about social boundaries, and Mix It Up Grants, which provide up to $250 for youth-directed projects aimed at addressing school climate and boundaries.
“We are excited and optimistic about this year’s Mix It Up at Lunch Day,” said Jennifer Smith-Holladay, interim director of the Center’s tolerance education programs. “This event is a great way to get students involved in questioning, challenging and changing the boundaries that define their schools and communities.”
**On November 16th Chi Sigma Iota, which is an International Honor Society for Counseling, is sponsoring a Mixitup lunch in Marina Dining Hall. Mixitup is a nation wide campaign that seeks to breakdown the barriers between students from different races, religions and ethnic backgrounds and to create a school environment where there are fewer misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts, bullying and violence.