Kids ‘Mix It Up’ and challenge racial, social boundaries

GIRARD — Fourth graders at Girard Intermediate School “mixed it up” at lunch Thursday, part of a national effort designed to challenge social and racial boundaries.

They were among some 4 million pupils in more than 10,000 schools across the country participating in the seventh annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center through its Teaching Tolerance program.

Children across the country were encouraged to question and cross social boundaries in their school by moving outside their cliques and sitting with someone new in the cafeteria for just one day.

Social boundaries are most obvious in the school cafeteria, but it’s also the ideal place for children to tear down those walls and get to know people they might otherwise never meet, according to the center.

In Girard Intermediate’s case, the fourth graders were planning for the day for some time, said elementary school counselor Pam Baker.

They prepared for almost a month, she said, through role-playing and discussions.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com