This week, Sept. 30 – Oct. 4, is anti-bullying week at Niles North High School.

This week focuses on the topics of bullying, reaching out to students who have been victims of bullying and raising awareness on how to minimize bullying within our school community.

Students have the opportunity to share their stories during a variety of events and find support through their peers, faculty, and staff here at Niles North.

The first event of the week will be held on Monday, Sept. 30. It’s called Safe Spaces, hosted by Corrie Wallace, Equity and ELL director, and it focuses on students sharing their stories, listening to others, and providing support. It will be held in the Student Activities conference room during periods 4-7. The event will also be held again on Friday, Oct. 4 during periods 3, 5 and 8.

Haven, an outreach program at Niles North where students can share and listen to each others’ stories of bullying, will be held in the Student Activities conference room during periods 6 and 7 on Friday, Oct. 4. This event will be led by English teachers Ivan Silverberg and Jean Ordonez.

“Haven provides a safe space for students to share and listen to their peers’ stories about what it’s like to be them,” Silverberg said.

The NAMES assembly for freshmen will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and Thursday, Oct. 3. The assembly is facilitated by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The objective of NAMES is to educate students on bullying.

During the assembly, there will be five student panelists who will share their stories about bullying. Afterwards, there will be an open microphone session for students who wish to share their own stories about bullying. It is held during periods 1-5 in the auditorium.

After the assembly, there will be a breakout session in the freshmen homerooms in which student leaders and homeroom teachers will guide activities relating to the assembly.

On Thursday, Oct. 3, there will be a screening of the documentary “Bully” to be held after school in the East Commons at 3:45 pm.