A small group of students is creating a culture of empathy and kindness at Skinner Middle School. The Skinner Restorative Justice League (RJL) hosts fundraisers, offers peer support, celebrates fellow students, and spreads the message that “Hate is Bad for Your Health.”
RJL members are very passionate about the work they are doing at Skinner. They had to demonstrate that passion even before officially joining RJL — the RJL application and training processes were intense. Students had to get recommendation letters from a teacher, go through multiple rounds of interviews, and then once selected, participate in three four-hour days of training. During training, RJL members learned how to keep peace circles, how to facilitate restorative conversations and about the value of student leadership.
“It’s a process, because they are asked to do so much that we have to have kids who are actually really fully into it,” said Allison Horton, one of Skinner’s Restorative Justice Coordinators.
Current RJL students play a role in selecting new members, and passion is one thing they look for.
“[We selected people] who really stood out because they had a really strong reason why they wanted to be in RJL,” said an RJL student.
Once students have joined RJL, the real work begins. They run a yearly fundraiser, and have helped both strangers and members of the Skinner community through Make-A-Wish, the children’s hospital, and more.
In addition to fundraisers, RJL students also lead by example in school. They’ll call students out for being unkind, or check in on students who seem like they’re having a bad day. RJL students are responsible for being leaders, but also for listening to others just as much as they speak up on their own.
“A huge focus of Restorative Justice League and restorative culture is, of course, sharing how you feel, but also being able to see another perspective and hearing out how other people feel,” said Alicen Nico, a Restorative Justice Coordinator at Skinner. “My hope is that anyone in RJL and any student at Skinner can take that moving forward.”
They also lead monthly assemblies for each grade level where they encourage Skinner students to practice values like respect and kindness. They celebrate students who have exemplified those values with certificates and cheers.
“They bring passion into everything they do. It helps revive our restorative school culture,” said Allison. “I think we really want all of our students here at Skinner to find their voice, and I feel like they get to find what that sounds like and looks like and what their passion is through RJL,” she said.
The students emphasized that the work that RJL does is important — and it’s also fun! They have built strong friendships with one another and every meeting is filled with laughter.
“Why would you be in RJL? To have fun!” said an RJL student.