The LMS Civil Rights just had an assembly that featured the team on the stage. The kids told the school some things they believed in and what the team stood for. They had a guest speaker and a side show.

The assembly started off with a slideshow. One of the members, and her brother had put it together. It showed the team doing some of their activities like going to Augusta for a Civil Rights Team conference, and the Mad-Mini-Mix-Match-Munchy-Lunch-Bunch. It also included part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous, “I have a dream” speech.

Next the team came onto the stage. Some of the kids got in front of a poster. Each poster contained a letter. All the letters spelled, “I have a dream.” Before each kid held up their letter, they told what they had a dream about. Some were “I have a dream, to be me, that people will be color blind to differences, and to integrate instead of segregate.”

After two of the team members introduced the Civil Rights Team Website. The website features some of the things the team has already done, and what they are planning to do in the future. People can also see photos of the team or ask questions. The website can be reached through the Lewiston Schools’ website.

After the website was shown to the school, Thomas Harnett was introduced. He is part of Attorney Generals Office that works with the Maine Civil Rights Law. The Maine Civil Rights Law says that it is against the law to pick-on, harass, assault, or do anything bad to anyone because of their race and ethnicity, place of origin, sexual orientation, gender, mental or physical disability, or religion. He then told the kids about three kids who were bullied because of one of these things.

First he told of Patrick. He was harassed so much, because people decided he was something they didn’t like. It started in his freshman year of high school. The other students made mean jokes about his sexual orientation. The harassment continued till he was a senior. Finally he told his parents, who called Mr. Harnett. He helped them take care of the problem by talking to the school principal, and he sued the boys that were harassing Patrick. Patrick and his parents then decided that he couldn’t go to that school anymore because he didn’t feel safe. The only time he went back to the school was when he graduated. Then he moved out to a different state to go to college.

Then Mr. Harnett told of a girl. He had gotten a call from a women crying and saying that she had adopted an African-America daughter, but she was having a hard time at school. Some of the kids were picking on her, on the bus. They were calling her very bad names. What happened to stop this problem was that one of the girls friends went up to the girls that were doing the teasing and said, “Stop that. She’s my friend. Those words hurt.” The bus that girl was on has K-12 graders on it. The girl was 7-years-old. The kids doing the name-calling were sophomores and juniors in high school. The kid who stood up for the little girl was also 7-years-old. He also told then about two Native-Americans that were assaulted when they were just walking down the street.

All of the stories Mr. Harnett told the students were true. They also happened right here in Maine. The first happened 3 years ago. The second happened a year and a half ago. The third happened just a few months ago. Then the kids watched a 10-minute video that showed them everything they had just learned. Mr. Harnett ended saying that the kids need to stop and think before they say or do something.