You're part of problem – or solution, speakers tells Canfield Middle-schoolers

CANFIELD

A crowded gym of Canfield Village Middle School students sat open-mouthed and wide-eyed as guest speaker David Kohout kicked off the school year with a serious speech.

Principal Judd Rubin introduced Kohout, whose presentation is called “Talk is Cheap, The Message Isn’t.” His platform is that there is a reason for each of the students’ lives.

“A few weeks ago we lost another student in this community [from another school] who decided it was too hard to keep going to school because kids were being mean to her,” Kohout said. “Either you’re part of the problem or you’re part of the solution. ... Choices equal consequences and before you get old you have to make good choices to get there.”

Kohout told students to embrace what sets them apart from others by initiating a competition of toothpaste-tube squeezing between two students whom Rubin deemed the strongest in the school.

Sixth-grade students Ben Slanker and Sophie Dundix raced to squeeze out all of the toothpaste before the other did, using their different strengths.

Read more about the event in Wednesday's Vindicator or on V'indy.com.