The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) recently was awarded the 2015 Aaron Flanzbaum 21st Century Democratic Heritage Award from the New Jersey Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League and the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA). The district won for its innovative and effective program, Step Up and ID (Interrupt and Define) HIB (Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying.
On behalf of the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education and Administration, the award was accepted by district representatives Donna Charlesworth and Craig Bookwalter at a ceremony on Thursday, May 14 at the NJASA/NJAPSA Spring Conference.
The Aaron Flanzbaum 21st Century Democratic Heritage Award recognizes school districts in New Jersey that have demonstrated a commitment to building inclusive school communities and anti-bias learning environments free of discrimination, where all students and staff can flourish.
“It may be a cliché’, but the Lenape Regional High School District’s program, Step Up and ID HIB, encourages every student to ‘walk the walk’ to defend their friends and classmates if they are ever harassed or bullied for any reason,” District Superintendent Carol Birnbohm said. “The program empowers every student — in all four Lenape Regional high schools — to stand up, step up and be an ‘upstander’, not a bystander.”
The LRHSD also has been awarded the No Place for Hate designations at all four of its high schools by the Anti-Defamation League for the past three years.
