B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams In Schools
B.I.O.N.I.C. prevents bullying and suicides by inspiring and empowering kids to create caring school climates through letting struggling peers know they are seen, they matter, and they are not alone.
B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams began in 2004 as clubs at schools to empower students to reach out to other students going through challenging times such as being new, sick, hospitalized, bullied, or losing a loved one. B.I.O.N.I.C. was created after four suicides at Green Mountain High School in Lakewood, Colorado after finding out what the students who died by suicide had gone through. It has been found that students who go through those types of things can spiral down into suicidal thoughts if other difficult experiences happen in their lives too. We have seen that if students can receive outreaches after being new, sick, hospitalized, bullied, or losing a loved one then they will know they are “seen,” they matter, and friends care which can give them hope. Also for those students who participate in B.I.O.N.I.C., they feel a connection and a sense of purpose as they see others being encouraged and supported by their outreaches. The B.I.O.N.I.C. school staff Advisors have seen leadership skills develop quicker in B.I.O.N.I.C. than even Student Council and other leadership groups because of the impact students see immediately with almost every outreach they do. That gives them confidence to continue reaching out even on their own.
B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams consist of individual teams that reach out to students: New Student Team, Extended Illness Team, Hospitalization Team, Loss Team, School Tragedy Team, Bully Prevention Team, Intergenerational Team, and 10/10 – I Care Day. Here is a two-part 20-minute video showing details about the first five individual teams on the B.I.O.N.I.C. Team.
PART 1
PART 2
INDIVIDUAL TEAMS - These are past some student leaders explaining the teams.
NEW STUDENT TEAM
Two to three days after arriving to school, new students receive a “Survival Kit” to encourage them during the transition time in adjusting to a new high school. Once a month we host a New Student Lunch. This is an opportunity for new students to meet other new students and B.I.O.N.I.C. Team members.
Some schools also have B.I.O.N.I.C. New Student Ambassadors who are paired with a new student for the first three days at school – meeting them in the office before the beginning of the school day, taking them to and from their classes, eating lunch with them, connecting them with other students who are involved in the things they want to join at school, introducing them to staff members who teach/coach/sponsor their areas of interest.
EXTENDED ILLNESS TEAM
It can be very stressful when students have to miss school for an extended period of time because of illness or other health conditions. For students who miss more than five consecutive days of school, the B.I.O.N.I.C. Team:
- Calls the student at home to check on how they’re doing,
- Sends a packet to help with making up homework.
- May visit the student at home. May visit the student at home if the illness is for an extended period of time.
HOSPITALIZATION TEAM
Being in the hospital can be a lonely or frightening experience. The B.I.O.N.I.C. Team reaches out to those students who face circumstances requiring hospitalization. The B.I.O.N.I.C. Team:
- Contacts the student’s family to see if it is appropriate to visit the student at the hospital.
- Stops by to see the student in the hospital and brings a gift to let the student know that others at school are thinking of him/her.
LOSS TEAM
Facing the death of a family member can be one of the most devastating times in a person’s life. In the first couple weeks after such a loss, there is often a lot of support from family and friends. The B.I.O.N.I.C. Team knows that the following weeks after a death can be a tough time as the reality of the loss sets in. Approximately two weeks after the loss, the B.I.O.N.I.C. Team stops by the student’s home to drop off a pie and card to let the student and his or her family know that the school cares and is thinking about them. The Loss Team also delivers pies or gourmet bread at school to staff members after a family death.
SCHOOL TRAGEDY TEAM
School tragedies (such as a school shooting, tragic auto accidents, student deaths, etc.) can devastate a school. During the 2001-02 school year Green Mountain faced the deaths of four students. Neighboring schools reached out in very tangible ways through gifts, food, posters, etc. The support during a difficult time was very encouraging, and knowing how much of a difference that made for the community, they wanted to reach out to other schools that experience tragedies too. Through a 24-30 foot poster of student and staff signatures, posters are sent to support to other schools during their tragedies. B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams have also reached out where tragedies have occurred - a tsunami in Japan, a shooting at a movie theater, etc.
BULLY PREVENTION TEAM - Prevent Bullying by Just Saying H.I
To prevent bullying we started the “Prevent Bullying by Just Saying H.I.” program which all members participate in. “H” stands for Help – get help from an adult in the school if you see bullying so they can stop it or intervene. If you heard about an earlier bullying incident – even on social media – report it to an adult so it can be addressed. “I” stands for “Initiate Contact” sometime that day with the bullied student to let him/her know it was wrong and they didn’t deserve it. Students can offer to walk down the hall with that student where the incident happened so they have support from then on. They can offer for the bullied student to each lunch or play on the playground with them or other ways to show other students are looking out for them. Often when students are bullied the reason they don’t want to come back to school is embarrassment and/or wondering what other students think or are wondering about them – are they weak, did they deserve it, what’s wrong with them. By B.I.O.N.I.C. members and other students reaching out to them, they can “save face” and know that they are still accepted in the school.
The program consists of creating a PowerPoint presentation (provided by B.I.O.N.I.C. that can be adapted for each school) to present in person or by video in classes to introduce the program. We encourage recruiting students from as many social groups in the school as possible to help with the presentation so each type of student will feel represented. We created two videos for each school level (elementary, middle/junior high, and high school). One is a short video about 2 minutes that can be included in the presentation. The video can also be shown to the students on video announcements or in an assembly to the entire school to remind the students periodically throughout the year. There is also a longer video (about 4 minutes total) that can be shown in a staff meeting with an introduction by the B.I.O.N.I.C. school Advisor explaining B.I.O.N.I.C. and the H.I. program - this video includes the 2-minute video we mentioned above so the school staff will see what will be shown to the students. Below are those videos. We encourage schools with the capability of creating their own videos to make their own version of the 2-minute video so their students will see their peers in the recording. Here are the videos we created.
ELEMENTARY ANNOUNCEMENT
ELEMENTARY STAFF MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
MIDDLE SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT
MIDDLE SCHOOL STAFF MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
HIGH SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT
HIGH SCHOOL STAFF MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
Intergenerational Team
We got a call from a senior living center asking for permission to start a B.I.O.N.I.C. Team. They wanted to reach out to new residents, hospitalized residents, residents who lose loved ones, and families after a resident’s death. They also did community outreaches, plus they came to our school for what we called “Table Talk” about issues and holidays during the month of each “Table Talk.” We believe that as students we can learn from the older generations. Through our group “Table Talks,” our students and senior citizens talk about their life experiences to learn from each other and make a connection. The generation gap diminishes and an appreciation for each other grows and bonds form.. At Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colorado, their B.I.O.N.I.C. Team did a longer 3-hour version of this to introduce the program. They started with a craft between the senior residents and the students, then the lunch as described above, then they filmed the senior residents answering questions about their lives that will be given to the residents' families. Here is a video of the experience that was captured on the local 9News television station. We also have special outreaches to veterans.
