Guest Speaker-------Sequoia Henry

Our guest speaker at our evening meeting last Wednesday was Sequoia Henry, a grade10 student from Huntsville high school and a nephew of Debbie Knobelsdorf. His topic was on being bullied... it's been going on with him for 18 months since he arrived in high school.

It all started, as he stated, as a boy was making fun of a girl - calling her fat, ugly, a troll........ so I asked him to stop being such a jerk.... since then he and all his friends have bullied me...... in class, out of class, at school, in town, everywhere & every day.

Sequoia has prepared a video where he introduces himself as a fellow likes to cook, write, sing, play music, laugh & spend time with friends and family. He says does not smoke, take any drugs, never skips class; does well in school as education is important to him. Editor’s note: he sounds like a great kid to me.

What’s happened to him.... what hasn't, he says.......... I've been punched, thrown against lockers, rocks thrown at me until I bled, yelled at, told to kill myself, death threats,  groups of people waiting at my locker to beat me up or pick on me and it continues everyday!

In an effort a to tell this story, he has spoken to the teachers of his school as a group, been interviewed on local radio, spoken to elementary schools and has been interviewed by the local newspaper, as they ran a four series on bulling on how it affects the community, school, parents and affected students, plus creating a video which now on You Tube. It is worth the watch; it is about 12 minutes long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwwNxC05hIA&feature=results_video

I spoke to Sequoia after the meeting to tell him how impressed I was with him, and I realized that he will make it because when he shook my hand, he has a  very firm handshake, which tells a lot of a person, they are going it in life!

Sequoia's message to us and the rest of the world.... it's time to stand up against bullying. Please stand up for me, for others and for yourself. Wear the pink shirt that says: Be a Buddy Not a Bully

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