Batavia Girl Scouts aim to beat bullying

What started as an idea to combat bullying and cliques, ended with five Batavia Girl Scouts speaking to nearly 100 St. Charles East students May 25.

The five scouts – Rachel Shankland, 12, Madeline Cortez, 11, Grace Beem, 12, Madison Briden, 12, and Madi Peplansky, 12 – are all members of Troop 4919 and Rotolo Middle School students. They presented their idea to the Peer Leadership group at St. Charles East.

“It was part of one of the badges we do. It’s a ‘Journey,’ so you do three parts to it. The first two parts [are] usually learning about stuff and doing activities, and the third part is doing something about it,” Shankland said.

Kelly Peplansky, Madi Peplansky’s mom and one of the Scout leaders for Troop 4919, was able to set up the presentation at St. Charles East. She works as an interpreter for the deaf at the school.

“This whole thing started with the girls needing to finish a Journey (a set of badges). The girls chose to focus on an activity addressing bullying and cliques. The presentation and program is meant to be like an educational curriculum, offering a class or workshop on how to address bullying and cliques in the school setting, in a fun and educational way,” said Kelly Peplansky.

The subject seemed a personal one to the girls.

“We experienced this – in middle school especially – but sometimes in elementary school,” Briden said.

“When all sixth-grade schools went to one middle school, things got crazy,” Beem added.

The quintet’s presentation, entitled “Clique Crusher Night,” aimed to end bullying through team-building activities meant to take potential bullies out of their comfort zone and actually get to know other people.

“We came up with it because we’re sick and tired of people being bullied and being stuck in cliques, and we wanted to help stop it,” Cortez said.

They received help along the way from Keith Glavan’s students in the St. Charles East Virtual Enterprises International class.

Seven students from that class met with the girls to smooth out the rough edges of the presentation, Kelly Peplansky said. It also earned the girls their entrepreneurship badge.

“Paul Harvey, Matt Chau, Anthony Serafini, Jack Kimberley, Jacob Krueger, Adrianna Koczwara and Jacob Stellon helped the girls assemble the PowerPoint, refine and clarify their ideas and fit what they wanted to say into a five-point business plan presentation,” she said.

The presentation also helped the girls advance through their Scout careers.

“It will also help us earn our Silver and Gold awards. We already have our Bronze,” Madi Peplansky said.