By Mrs. Lara English, Counselor and group sponsor

The Lean On Me Haywood group kicked off its activities on January 15 during a senior member planning day in the library at HHS. The Lean on Me Haywood group is comprised of teachers, administrators, and counselor-nominated sophomore, junior, and senior students who have a common goal of improving the atmosphere at Haywood High School through kindness, inclusion, and new friendships.

The group is student-run with just a couple of faculty facilitators. The seniors of this group hope to leave a lasting legacy at Haywood High School with the activities that they have planned for the remainder of this year. Encouraging notes were written and left in random lockers on Thursday and a mix-it-up lunch is planned for later in the month. This lunch encourages students to sit with new people during their lunch shift. The group has come up with skits, anti-bullying videos, kindness pledges, and even a kindness rap that will be performed and broadcast across the Haywood County School System. The majority of these activities will occur as Haywood High School’s Lean on Me group kicks off the National Random Act of Kindness Week February 9-15.

This group has also expressed great interest in a mentoring program that pairs upperclassmen with the younger students at Haywood High School. We will begin a pilot mentor group this spring. The students are driven and creative in the planning of activities, and we indeed have strong leadership among this group. I can’t wait to see what happens.