Farmington Schools Students Stand4Change

students today stood up as part of a nation-wide movement that aims to raise awareness about, and to prevent, bullying. 

Around noon today, students literally stood for five minutes in their classrooms as part of Stand4Change. At , students rose at 12:08 p.m., because of the school schedule.

Junior Katie Stieber, 16, of Farmington, made the announcement from the school office. She's part of the FHS "Stop the BAD (Bullying and Discrimination)" club formed last year. 

"In my freshman year, I saw bullying happen here," she said. "It's always been something that's gone on in the schools I've been at. I've been bullied, and I thought it would feel good to do something about it."

FHS English and Spanish teacher Dawn Kukuzke said this is the club's second year. It was formed by a group of students, now seniors, who came to her looking for an advisor.

"They had a friend who was getting picked on, and they didn't know what to do," she said. 

Since then, the club has "slowly but surely" gotten bigger, Kukuzke said. Last year, Stop the BAD brought in Gabrielle "Gabe" Ford, a Fenton, MI woman and nationally-known anti-bullying speaker. This year, the group is working with on a pilot program to present a panel discussion with the younger students about bullying. 

On May 17, Farmington High will be part of a Guinness Book record attempt, called the "Million T-Shirt March," to have the most-ever students all wearing the same t-shirt on the same day.

Do you have pictures of Stand4Change at your school? .