'Switch It Up Day' at Romeoville School Allows Students to Make New Friends

The following article was submitted by Valley View School District 365U:

Hundreds of students at A. Vito Martinez ate lunch with strangers Friday.

It was “Switch It Up” Day at the Romeoville Middle School, designed to encourage students in all grade levels to meet new people by helping them stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones.

“It’s great way to get people to know eachother and to make new friends,” said 8th grader Katie Townsend, who has participated in the event since she was a 6th grader. “It was tough not knowing anyone then. I thought doing something like this was crazy at first. But once I went through it, it was really easy for me to get to know people.”

Each lunch table included a student facilitator, selected because of their leadership and responsibility qualities, and one of three dozen or so topics that were to be discussed by the group. Topics included honesty, benevolence, commitment, caring, confidence, courage, diligence, discipline, fairness, empathy, friendship, honesty, and much more.

Martinez officials hope the annual event will continue to play a big role in creating an overall friendly environment in the school where students are comfortable not only interacting with their current circles but also associating with other students they may not know quite as well.