HELP IT GET BETTER:
How You Can Make a Difference at a School You Care about
This Back-to-School Season

The back-to-school season carries with it a mix of anticipation and dread for far too many students, a sense of the potential and possibility of a good education undercut by worry about rejection, isolation, bullying, violence and worse.

I remember that same sentiment all too well from my childhood, and I hear that feeling reflected in the poignant comments of so many students as they head back to school. When I joined GLSEN's staff, it was exhilarating to feel, finally, that there was something to be done and that I could be part of the solution.

I marked my first back-to-school season as a GLSEN staff member with a thank-you note to a teacher who had made a huge difference to me when I was little. I wanted that teacher to know that their kindness and their principled actions had made a huge difference in my life. I also wrote a letter to my high school's current principal noting how to make things better for students like me.

And then I got to work with my colleagues on the programs and initiatives and systemic change that have made each back-to-school season a little better for students across the country.

As students get ready to head back to school, remember that we can all be part of the solution. Write to a teacher who made a difference to you to encourage those who sometimes act alone to make things better. Write to your school's current principal to tell them what life was like for you, and providing them with information about the GLSEN resources and programs now available to support their interest in changing things for the better.

Have you sent a GLSEN Safe Space Kit to the middle or high school that you attended? Or that your child attends? If you have, thank you so much! If you haven't yet, you can learn more about this critical resource and send a Safe Space Kit to a designated member of the school staff at this link.

As someone who works with GLSEN and supports our work, you already are part of this great movement for safe schools for all. Thank you. But if you are like me, there is always an urge to do more, however individual a step it may be.

This is the first back-to-school season since the wave of tragic reports that shocked the nation last Fall. Now, more than ever, we need your individual voices raised to ensure that principals and teachers everywhere understand the stakes, and have support and resources to enable them to act. Let them know that you care, let them know that you are watching, and let them know that you and GLSEN are there to support them.

Please help your school get ready to open its doors to a world of possibilities and live up to the promise inherent in a great school: "This is a place of learning and growth for every student." Ultimately, that is the goal we all share. Thank you so very much for all of your support and for your help and action in this critical back-to-school season.