Mix It Up at Lunch Day
Teaches Tolerance

Last November more than 8,000 schools and 3 million students participated in Mix It Up at Lunch Day, an event in which social cliques are disbanded so students eat lunch with a new group. The idea behind the Mix It Up at Lunch program is to generate more understanding and perhaps even new friendships among students.

During the Mix It Up at Lunch event at Powell Middle School in Brooksville, Florida, signs with quotes from famous people were posted above lunch tables. One quote was from Indira Gandhi: “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” As each student entered the cafeteria that day, he or she was handed a quote on a piece of paper. Students spent lunch at the table under which they found their quote hanging.

At their tables, students found ice-breaking questions that challenged them to introduce themselves and talk with their new lunch companions about their favorite sports, hobbies, and music as well as siblings and pets.

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”

Lisa Piesik, the school’s MicroSociety coordinator, and assistant principal Jamie Young put together the event. The state of Florida mandates that all schools must have anti-bullying programs and Mix It Up at Lunch day is part of Powell’s anti-bullying effort, Piesik told Education World.

“Since that day,” Piesik said, “we’ve been having students do reflection activities. Students role play and reflect on bullying they’ve experienced or been part of and why it shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Piesik said Powell will participate in Mix It Up at Lunch day again this year.

HIGH SCHOOLERS MENTOR
ELEMENTARY LUNCH BUNCH

Fourth- and fifth-graders at Cale Elementary School in Charlottesville, Virginia, took part in the school’s version of the event. Cale is a pre-K through 5 school.

Students were arranged into groups of four and five for lunch, and two high-school student mentors were assigned to each group. Students were mixed up to ensure that they spent time with other students who were not their usual lunch companions.

The high-school student mentors rather than teachers led the student groups in ice-breaking discussions to find what students had in common in areas such as music and family experiences.

“This worked well with our students,” said school psychologist Trish Reyes. “Our students enjoyed the interaction with the high-school mentors and the interaction with each other.”

The school extended Mix It Up at Lunch to recess, during which high-school mentors led the mixed groups of students in football and basketball as well as other games. Reyes said the recess activities reinforced what students had learned at lunch.

Reyes said students form cliques even in elementary school. By third, fourth, and fifth grade, students notice socioeconomic and ethnic differences.

Reyes said at Cale there are, for example, a group of students who are good at sports and another group of students who don’t seem to fit in with others. Both groups tend to band together. “Even at a young age, kids need to learn to understand other kids who are different from them,” Reyes commented.

“Our students enjoyed the interaction with the high-school mentors and the interaction with each other.”

As for student response to the event, Reyes said students loved it. Another positive outcome is that high-school students are mentoring Cale students during the entire school year.

“The event was worthwhile, and we definitely will participate again this year,” Reyes said. “In addition to fourth- and fifth-graders, we hope to include third-graders.”

A FULL-DAY EVENT

At Blanchard Middle School in Westford, Massachusetts, principal Jessica Huizenga suggested suspending classes on Mix It Up at Lunch Day and instead devoting the entire day to student workshops teaching skills such as communication and leadership.

Academic support coach Liz Benstead and guidance counselor Lisa Searl eagerly seized the opportunity to coordinate a day of teaching tolerance to Blanchard students.

Mix It Up at Lunch remained at the heart of the activities. At lunch each student was given a slip of paper with a number. The student sat with a new group of students at the table with that number. Lunch began with an ice-breaking activity.

“At first, some students didn’t want to sit with others they aren’t friends with,” Benstead said. “But after lunch, some new friendships had been made.”

Each student participated in five different workshops throughout the day. Workshops dealt with issues such as diversity, tolerance, social action, conflict resolution, self-esteem, and team building. In one activity, the perils walk, one student led another blindfolded student through an obstacle course. In another activity students wrote stories about themselves that highlighted their positive attributes.

In a survey completed after the event, 88 percent of students rated the day worthwhile. Benstead thinks the success of Mix It Up Day partly stemmed from the fact that for a week before the event the school’s health teacher previewed it for students. There are plans to have half a day of workshops at the school in May as a follow-up.

A DAY OF TEACHING TOLERANCE

Samantha Briggs, the director of Mix It Up at Lunch Day, attended Blanchard’s event and honored the school as one of five in the nation recognized by the Mix It Up at Lunch Day Foundation.

In a survey completed after the event, 88 percent of students rated the day worthwhile.

The Mix It Up at Lunch Day Foundation is part of Teaching Tolerance, a program founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The goals of Teaching Tolerance are to reduce prejudice and support equitable school experiences for students. The program provides free teaching kits for educators as well as materials for young people, teens, and their parents and guardians.

The Mix It Up at Lunch event is the brainchild of Morris Deeds, SPLC founder. “He felt the lunch hour is the most painful and isolating time for many students across the country,” said Briggs. “Mix It Up at Lunch activities can help solve that problem.”

Briggs said the main ingredients of a successful Mix It Up at Lunch day are