Junior stands up for kids affected by bullying

Every year on first day of school each grade is called to the PAC to hear about schedules, counselors, rules, and regulations. Every year all students expect to hear the same old thing.

This year was different. Sophomore Annie Archambeau presented a power point presentation that she had worked on for the last two weeks of summer. The subject of this power point was "Bullycide.”

Bullycide is when the effect of bullying leads a person to commit suicide.

During the presentation, the students in the auditorium were silent as they saw the faces in the video and the facts on the screen. After giving the presentations to all the grades Archambeau said she was floored by the reaction.

Last year, Archambeau said she was fed up with people acting rude. She attempted to file complaints against other student but failed due to the lack of proof. Archambeau said she was upset. She then contacted Principal Kent Bergum. They had planned to have the presentation sometime at the end of the last school year. But, that didn't work. Archambeau said that she had this planned for a while.

"When he called me, I was nervous," Archambeau said.

She received tons of compliments. During the interview, senior Chalia Runions and sophomore Helana Semborski came over to compliment her.

She said she was nervous giving the speech in front of all the grades.

"I was cautiously optimistic. You never really know with high schoolers. But I was surprisingly amazed by their reactions,” Archambeau said. “When doing the freshmen presentation, you could have really heard a pin drop. I've never seen a crowd so large be so quiet for so long."

Archambeau said she didn't want anyone to think she did this in a way to put anyone down or to point out their wrongdoings. She just wanted everyone to realize what can happen when bullying isn't stopped.

At first, Archambeau said she thought people might see it as a way to gain sympathy from the crowd. She said just wanted the student body to understand the consequences in students’ actions and to realize that they can change their school if they all try.

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