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Spoto High helps students un-bottle emotions with Challenge Day

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RIVERVIEW - Spoto High School English Department Head Adam Sherman can't help but wonder if a program he introduced to Spartan students could have changed the trajectory of Nickolas Cruz's life before he gunned down and killed 17 people on Valentine's Day at Parkland Marjory Stoneman High School.

At Spoto on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15, Sherman and guidance counselor Rob Kachurak organized two back-to-back presentations of Challenge Day, an international program meant to break down walls of separation and isolation among persons of all ages and backgrounds.

The goal? Replace those barriers with acts of kindness, acceptance and love.

The day-long program - endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant - is designed for 100 participants with a ratio of four students per every adult. Students are randomly chosen, and community leaders, parents, school counselors and teachers make up the adult participants.

The highly energetic and interactive format featured a mix of dancing, game playing and frank discussions interspersed with an assortment of sentiments that included lots of laughs, heartfelt high fives, sincere hugs and at times, bona fide tears.

At the day's end participants were then tasked with passing along what they'd ascertained to peers in their classrooms, parents at home, and people in the community at large, all with the common goal of spreading a sense of respect and compassion for everyone they encounter.

"Challenge Day teaches people the idea of an emotional balloon," said Sherman, at the conclusion of the program's third consecutive year at Spoto. "The balloon is filled with all of the things we don't want to talk about or that we don't want others to know because we may be worried about what they will think, or we may fear that we will be judged for our own experiences. So we continue to bottle up our emotions."

Likening that scenario to what Cruz may have experienced, he explained that when a person's balloon gets too full, it pops.

Challenge Day facilitators Katie Healey and Sealoyd Jones III, based at the nonprofit organization's San Francisco headquarters, repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting out of your comfort zones to find commonality and empathy with others beyond one's close circle of friends, particularly people who appear to be loners and seem to lack a sense of belonging.

In doing so, Sherman said, "It helps to remember to look for those leaking balloons."

Spoto junior Anthony Goden, 16, said he went in with mixed emotions because others told him it was an event that made people cry.

"But for me it was mind-blowing," Goden said afterwards. "It helped me branch out and talk to people I'd seen but never really knew. I think what I will take out of it is to try and connect with more people and not judge them without knowing what's going on in their lives, and to show more love and kindness to everyone."

Likewise, 16-year-old sophomore Hyshauni McNeil was uncertain and nervous at first.

"But my Challenge Day experience was great," she said. "I gained a lot of knowledge and saw a hidden personality come out of everyone. I also met a lot of new people and made new friendships."

And although freshman Kaya Higham heard some negative comments from classmates who'd been Challenge Day participants in the past, she made up her mind to enter the gym with an open mind.

"It was a slightly intense rollercoaster because I laughed and I cried," said the 15-year-old, promising to spread kindness to everyone she sees.

Spoto social studies teacher Lindsey Guzzi summed up her experience as a day well spent.

"Through this program I have learned to be empathetic and patient with my students, and even with my own child," she said.

She also thinks that because of her participation along with other teachers from the school, students will begin to recognize them as people with their own challenges, a new reality that will result in positive changes in the classrooms.

South Shore Chamber of Commerce executive director Melanie Rimes, who also set aside the day to take part in the event, left the gathering with an entirely different perspective.

"I can honestly say as the mother of four kids that Challenge Day is something that will be more impactful and take them further in life than geometry," said Rimes, whose oldest daughter is a Spoto High student and attended this year's program on a different day. "The Challenge program is so relevant at this point in their lives."

Kachurak wholeheartedly agreed.

"You can't help but feel this is exactly what they need," he said, also noting that school instituted a Be the Challenge Club to help sustain the idea of treating everyone with respect and compassion.

Contact Joyce McKenzie at hillsnews@tampabay.com.

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