By guest writer Brittany Costantini
Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind
ArtPrize Eight has presented Pamela Alderman with an opportunity to feature a piece on bullying with the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore playing a volunteer support role. In this interactive art piece, the center painting shows koi fish swimming against the current just as Pamela is encouraging the ArtPrize viewers to do when it comes to treating others with kindness—even when it is not easy. By choosing kindness over hate, we can impact our culture; that is the promise the viewers will be making as they tie an orange ribbon onto the mesh structure.
Jack’s Story
In second grade, you work on your handwriting and multiplication. But for Jack Peterson, he had to learn how to fight on the playground.
Jack was targeted by bullies at school who would shove wood chips up his nose. Then they would push him into a play house and tie a jump rope around the door to ensure he could not escape. They also punched him over and over again.
This bullying continued into fifth grade until he was able to stand up for himself by fighting one of the leaders of the group. He claimed, “I did not win, but neither did he. And after that, they left me alone.”
Jack is now 18 and is looking forward to his future as a doctor. He recognizes that his experience with bullying has impacted who he is today. He started wrestling and even became a state champion. But he also learned that it is important to stand up for those who cannot fight for themselves.
For reasons of security, names have been changed.
Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind
Coloring with Kindness
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
September 21 to October 9, 2016
Vote 62626
(Located outside on the museum plaza)
Tell Us Your Story. #ColorMeKind
