We welcomed back guest speaker, Mr. Alain Pelletier, to our chapel this afternoon to speak to our students about bullying.

Mr. Pelletier is a Quebec-based speaker who holds conferences about bullying across Canada with students of all ages. The conference today was presented in two parts: theatrical and explanatory. The theatrical piece was a monologue of a person being bullied and the explanatory part showed our community how to play an active role to stop bullying and help victims. "I want everyone to close their eyes," said Mr. Pelletier during the conference. "Now raise your hand up high if you've witnessed bullying." As almost all students raised their hands, he then asked everyone to open their eyes and look around the room. He was not as surprised as our students to see how many hands were raised. "Statistically, 90% of us have witnessed bullying right before our eyes," explained Mr. Pelletier. By the end of the conference, our students were left with a better understanding of bullying and clear actions on how to be active bystanders.

Thank you to Mr. Pelletier for the powerful presentation and to Mr. Tessier, Marie-Noelle, and the rest of our Student Life team for continuing to actively promote a supportive school culture that has no tolerance for bullying.