By: Sierra Connor
Edited by Adviser
Independence High School – Charlotte, N.C.
Within the past two weeks, the Independence DREAM team has come together in a movement, Teen Dating Violence Awareness (TDVA), against relationship abuse regarding what was the upcoming holiday of Valentine’s day. The DREAM team stands for Daring to Role-model Excellence as Athletic Mentors and consists of a group of senior elite athletes attending Independence.
February is Teen Dating Awareness month and the group decided to step up and help spread the word! In the mall they put up orange teardrops around the pillars on which students signed their name, committing themselves to healthy relationships. Some even wrote little encouraging messages to people who may be in the situation of an unhealthy relationship. Kaitlin Milde a member of DREAM team says that their was an upwards of “500 teardrops” signed and hanged.
The team chose orange to be their theme color, and showcased it all over school. Last week they even put up a photo booth frame for people to take pictures with their friends. The idea was to take a photo in front of the photobooth and post it on social media with the hashtag #Forward4Love.
“Officer Rivera even came to us, and said how it is really important to him what we are doing because he has 3 daughters and he said he told all of their boyfriends that he would mess them up if they laid a hand on any of them. He told us to get our butts in gear and so we went all out for it,” said DREAM team member Kaitlin Milde.
Kaitlin also said how the team won a contest. The team wanted to do more so they threw a party, passing out flyers to the staff, posting pictures on social media and hanging posters around the mall.
The team spread the word to try and get as many students and faculty members to wear orange on Friday, February 12. Many students showed up to school and showed their spirit to support healthy relationships. Also on Friday, the team played a video on the morning announcements entitled ‘What is Love’ of them going around the school asking different students of what love is to them.
Watch the video here:
February is not over yet, so the TDVA celebrations continue. Look out for orange ads throughout the school and continue to support this cause. See DREAM Team for more information.
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