Students teaching students was the basis of a character education lesson that recently took place at Northwest Elementary School.

A group of about 30 ninth-graders from Edmund W. Miles Middle School made the short journey to Northwest on Jan. 12. They split into teams and visited third-grade classrooms to present their Positive Interactions program. The middle school students emphasized friendship, integrity, kindness and respect to their younger peers. 

The presentation included videos on bullying and cyberbullying. The ninth-graders also led small-group discussions in which they presented various scenarios to the third-graders, and talked about how to handle each situation. The scenarios were circumstances that could happen inside or outside of school, and included topics such as how to deal with being teased, how to handle untrue rumors and how to stick up for friends.

The program was organized by ninth-grade social studies teacher Jack Zider and third-grade teacher Jennifer Flyntz-Zider. Student facilitators were chosen from the National Junior Honor Society and from teacher recommendations. 

Ms. Flyntz-Zider said the hope is that the message will stay in the hearts and minds of the students as they get older so that they “treat each other the right way.”