WOOLWICH

Woolwich Central School students experienced firsthand how a little effort could go a long way after they helped remove a pedestrian crossing sign at a Brunswick Lowe’s retail store that was spray painted to read “SPED XING,” an offensive term that describes someone who receives special education services.

Seventh and eighth grade English teacher Kyle Beeton, the founder and leader of the school’s civil rights team, saw the sign and brought it to the attention of the students.

After discussing the meaning of the sign and why it was offensive, Beeton and the students contacted Lowe’s manager Joe Shelton, who agreed to look into the sign’s removal.

Within a week, the sign was taken down.

Beeton was grateful for Shelton’s response and for the speedy action that was taken to remove the sign.

“One of the essential aspects of the civil rights team is that these kids find out that their actions can affect change,” Beeton said. “And that’s such a concrete example — they see the sign, and now the sign is gone.”

Woolwich student Mollie Mougalian spoke about how the accomplishment reflected the team’s overall goals.

“Everybody took it seriously and as a team, we accomplished something that we had our hearts set on so that it would help people feel better about themselves,” she said.

Beeton, who has led other civil rights teams in the past, initiated the program for Woolwich middle school students last year due to his passion for ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for all students.

He currently leads the team with Leann Fisher, a seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher, and meets with the students during lunch and recess breaks.

“I think it says a lot about their character that kids at this age are willing to give up a lunch and a recess simply because they want to make this school a safer place for other kids — it’s amazing,” said Beeton.

Jason Libby, the principal of Woolwich Central School, also commended the students and the civil rights team for its real world approach to the school’s mission statement, the “Woolwich Way,” which is focused on respect, responsibility, honesty, compassion, courtesy and quality in all aspects of learning.

“As a principal, when they approached me with the idea, to me this is the way to really take those words and put them in a more global perspective for our middle school students,” Libby said. “I think it’s an important proponent for having an environment where kids can appropriately discuss those global issues as they see them on the news and see them come up.”

Woolwich student Elizabeth Schotten said she got involved with the team because she wanted to help others.

“I want to help people feel good about themselves and feel that they’re not being judged, and their differences make them special, and not as a disability,” she said. “That gives me joy that I can make people feel like that.”

With the team being only a year old, Beeton and Fisher agreed that they wanted to focus on growing the team, educating students and laying the groundwork for future projects.

This year, the team worked together to create and put up posters around the school with positive messages about accepting others.

On Valentine’s Day, students also prepared chocolates with messages that read: “WCS Civil Rights Team encourages everyone to respect ALL types of relationships.”

Beeton hopes to continue to lay the foundation of education so students can be prepared to influence others and successfully change the culture of the school.

“We don’t always want to be reacting to problems — we want to be talking about things so if something happens, our kids are already knowledgeable and empathetic,” said Beeton.

dkim@timesrecord.com