— 2022 Unity Award Recipient —
Outspoken Oaks Upstanders
Westlake Village, CA
The Outspoken Oaks are students from grades 6-12, who meet online once a week to learn the different types of bullying. The club was created due to a cyberbullying incident, and everyone involved wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again. The group participated in the PACER’s RUN WALK ROLL event to spread awareness of bullying prevention and an Earth Day event to respect the diversity of different ethnicities and individualities. We showed at the event to care for the world, care for each other, and to raise awareness in our school community. The group held a poster contest to share the beauty of kindness through art. The Outspoken Oaks are sharing mindfulness, making friends, and spreading happiness for the school community. This was the first year of our club and it has exceeded all expectations! Let's all become Upstanders and help the world!
Nominated by Maria Montagne, Educator at River Oaks Academy
2022 Unity Award Acceptance
Making Real Change in the World
Why are you personally passionate about addressing bullying and promoting inclusion?
We are passionate about addressing bullying and promoting inclusion because no one deserves to be bullied. We were also inspired to join the school’s bullying prevention “Stand Up” forum and the Outspoken Oaks by our pursuit for justice in the world. We believe that if everyone does their part in standing up against bullying, then we can all at least lower the number of yearly victims significantly.
Why is it important to create a world without bullying?
It’s important to accept people for who they are so that we can learn from our differences. A quote that we like to go by is “Be the change you want to see in the world” by Mahatma Gandhi. In order to see a change in the world, you have to take initiative and work towards making that change yourself. We would like to help make the world a safer place for past, current, and potential victims of bullying.
