Upstander Day

WHAT IS UPSTANDER DAY?

Former HHREC Co Director of Education Andy Cahn, County Executive Andrew J. Spano, HHREC Chairman Richard Laster and HHREC Executive Director Donna Cohen

WHAT IT IS:
County Executive Andy Spano originally declared May 18, 2006, as Upstander Day.  (View Proclamation) This special day is meant to encourage student activism and awareness by inspiring students to become "upstanders" (rather than bystanders) -- and to take an active role in changing the world. It is a call to action for participating schools to get their communities involved by hosting an event to bring attention to a particular human rights issue.

HOW IT BEGAN:
The idea was born when a group of teachers who serve on the Educators Planning Committee of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) decided that there should be a day for students to actively get their schools and communities involved in human rights awareness. Then, the HHREC incorporated the plan into its annual Human Rights Institute for High School Student Leaders that is held in March, with participation from over 200 students from approximately 22-26 area high schools. There, the students learned about the genocide and human rights awareness from a keynote speaker and participate in workshops run by piers to discuss what they and their schools could do to bring attention to pressing human rights issues.

WHO'S TAKING PART:
Each year 22-26 schools throughout Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield County plan events after attending the HHREC annual student institute that takes place in March. In 2009 the HHREC "Upstander" initiative for regional schools is a letter writing campaign to lobby government officials to take action against specific problems. Currently HHREC is organizing such a campaign relating to Darfur and instances of government sponsored torture.

Upstander Day at Scarsdale High School - View Video

Workshops at High School Inspires Student Action View Video
On October 21 the entire High School community took part in a day-long series of presentations and workshops that focused on the importance of being an "upstander" - someone who stands up and speaks out, or takes action when encountering injustice. The focus of the day reflects the Scarsdale Schools' motto, "non sibi" - not for one's self.

Students and teachers gathered as a group to view a film about child labor around the world, heard about previous and upcoming visits by Scarsdale students to assist with the Katrina recovery in Bay St. Louis on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as part of the SOS for Education project, and learned about a proposed trip to Ghana to work on a malaria prevention program.

During the day, students took part in 13 workshops on other opportunities to make a difference. Students also presented workshops on four projects that are the focus of student clubs - Free the Children, Partnership for Youth, Pine Ridge Reservation and Habitat for Humanity. Following Upstander Day, students created another club, Vitamin Angel Alliance, to support an effort described in one of the workshops. This club is dedicated to the prevention of childhood blindness.

For more information about the HHREC, please call 914-696-0738