B-E Students Attend Assembly in Menno
By Sydney Hoffman on October 2, 2017
SUITABLE SPEAKERS: Bridgewater-Emery High School students attend assembly in Menno Sept. 21. DJ SieffStyle opened the event with music and dancing followed by Tom Henderson with a speech on bullying and love.
Bridgewater-Emery took the entire high school to Menno on Sept. 21 for an assembly titled “Restoration Generation.” Other area schools, Freeman and Marion, also attended the assembly sponsored by the Wellspring Board, which area PA Sara Fodness (Freeman and Bridgewater Clinic) is a member of. Wellspring is a non-profit counseling service. They provide income based counseling as well as community outreach. The Wellspring Board even provided the transportation costs for all schools.
This assembly focused on bullying, self-worth, positive choices, and making a great future. When students walked in, music was playing and colorful lights were displayed. DJ SieffStyle Entertainment from Sioux Falls kicked off the event with some upbeat music. They encouraged all the students to stand up and dance. To have more of the schools interact, the DJ group showed the students some moves to copy from. Then there was a dance off between students from different schools and a teacher. A couple of DJs even sang. This is the same group that will send a DJ to the Bridgewater-Emery’s prom later in the school year.
“I was really excited to listen to DJ SieffStyle again after I saw them in California when I went there with the Emery youth group. They are just a very engaging and entertaining group with an awesome sense of humor,” junior Vanessa Hofer said.
After the crowd was pumped up and excited, the speaker Tom Henderson entered to give his message. His message talked about his own struggles growing up with a father that left his family to later end up in prison. Along with family struggles, he talked about his own struggles with self-image and how many people struggle with that, also. Tom centered his speech around bullying. He demonstrated how powerful our words can be by showing Instagram posts from real world teen suicide examples.
“The message that Henderson gave was very powerful, and the students seemed to be engaged in what he was saying. So, hopefully they will be able to continue to use those ideas in the future. In addition, I would like to thank my lovely students for volunteering me to participate in the dance battle,” English teacher Mrs. Lager said.
The Restoration Generation group invited us to come back later that night by student choice for more dancing with the DJs and another message from Tom.
“The DJs were very energetic and fun to watch. They could sing, dance, and DJ. They were the whole package. I went back later that night, and it was really fun. After Tom spoke, he handed out books for us to keep!” junior McKayla Kirby stated
This assembly focused on bullying, self-worth, positive choices, and making a great future. When students walked in, music was playing and colorful lights were displayed. DJ SieffStyle Entertainment from Sioux Falls kicked off the event with some upbeat music. They encouraged all the students to stand up and dance. To have more of the schools interact, the DJ group showed the students some moves to copy from. Then there was a dance off between students from different schools and a teacher. A couple of DJs even sang. This is the same group that will send a DJ to the Bridgewater-Emery’s prom later in the school year.
“I was really excited to listen to DJ SieffStyle again after I saw them in California when I went there with the Emery youth group. They are just a very engaging and entertaining group with an awesome sense of humor,” junior Vanessa Hofer said.
After the crowd was pumped up and excited, the speaker Tom Henderson entered to give his message. His message talked about his own struggles growing up with a father that left his family to later end up in prison. Along with family struggles, he talked about his own struggles with self-image and how many people struggle with that, also. Tom centered his speech around bullying. He demonstrated how powerful our words can be by showing Instagram posts from real world teen suicide examples.
“The message that Henderson gave was very powerful, and the students seemed to be engaged in what he was saying. So, hopefully they will be able to continue to use those ideas in the future. In addition, I would like to thank my lovely students for volunteering me to participate in the dance battle,” English teacher Mrs. Lager said.
The Restoration Generation group invited us to come back later that night by student choice for more dancing with the DJs and another message from Tom.
“The DJs were very energetic and fun to watch. They could sing, dance, and DJ. They were the whole package. I went back later that night, and it was really fun. After Tom spoke, he handed out books for us to keep!” junior McKayla Kirby stated
