For students, Mix It Up Day was mostly an opportunity to have a little fun during lunch break, but the purpose of the event was more profound: to get students to drop personal and social barriers and interact with groups outside their network of friends.
Rey Sandoval Perez, 14, a freshman, the son of Luz Perez and Benjamin Sandoval, said he joined the Durango High School Prejudice Elimination Action Team, the sponsor of Mix It Up Day, this year after attending a few meetings with his aunt last year.
“It’s a place to be yourself, and they love you for who you are,” he said. “I was always bullied as a kid, and I thought: Why not get involved in with a club that helps me persevere from my past?”
Perez ran the Loteria, a Mexican form of Bingo, for Mix It Up Day. Other events that allowed students to interact outside their normal social circles included a cupcake walk, a doughnut-eating contest and a balloon-popping contest.
Nahmie Banderas, 17, a junior, whose mother is Corlette Tahhahwah, said her work with PEAT started after she witnessed episodes of bullying.
“I thought there was a lot we could do to help people,” she said.
Maria Gonzales, a Spanish teacher and PEAT sponsor, said Mix It Up Day is one of three activities PEAT conducts every school year to earn the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate designation, a program that provides anti-bullying and anti-bias training to help create a more welcoming and respectful school culture.
DHS is the only school on the Western Slope to earn the No Place for Hate designation for the last 10 years.
PEAT students will attend two days of training at the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference that teaches them to recognize their own biases as a beginning step toward eliminating prejudicial or bullying behavior. The conference also allows schools to share their experiences and efforts to eliminate bullying and bias on their campuses.
“We want to teach people enough to step out of their own boxes to create a more cohesive environment,” she said.
PEAT students will also be working to get every student on campus to sign a Resolution of Respect that commits them to be respectful of all people and to affirm their commitment to build a more welcoming campus community.
“When we play together, we can get along better together, and then we can work together better,” Gonzales said.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rey Sandoval Perez’s first name
