by Marcia Parnell
Lifelong Becket resident and Wahconah senior, Bee Gillespie, explains that the joy they find in meeting people and making friends, along with their desire to create change, were the drivers behind them joining and becoming a leader in the school’s No Place for Hate organization. The group’s work is designed to create a kind and inclusive space for everyone at Wahconah and focuses on improving “in-the-halls” behavior.
Bee attended Becket Washington and Nesaccus Regional Middle schools. At Nesaccus they were involved in a peer leader program. Once Bee got to Wahconah, they started looking for a similar opportunity. Their initial feeling was that students weren’t as kind or accepting of others as they had been at Nesaccus. It was Bee’s history teacher, Mr. Murphy, who told them about No Place for Hate (he’s also the group’s advisor) and urged them to join. Bee felt the group was making serious change so they signed up and stuck with it throughout their years at Wahconah, regularly attending meetings and taking on increased leadership roles over time. Advisor Murphy also pushed the group to become a more student-led organization with officers (Bee is vice president) and more hands-on, with students teaching other students.
It turns out that it wasn’t just Bee’s perception about the Wahconah environment. Several years earlier, a survey had revealed that many students didn’t feel safe in the school. According to Bee, that unfortunate sentiment motivated the No Place for Hate team to make classroom education a priority. History teachers allotted one class and Bee and their teammates used the time to educate students about the harmful effects of threatening or intimidating behavior and the benefits of a caring and kind approach to others. As Bee explains, “We found that a lot of the time bad behaviors are dealt with punishment, like detention, where they do nothing. We also realized that a lot of the time things people did to people weren’t evil, they were just ignorant.”
Bee reports that the reactions from students who attend No Place for Hate sessions vary. From some students they see an immediate positive response like “I agree with this.” Those students are urged to come to the next No Place for Hate meeting. A handful react negatively and may make fun of the group. And finally, the majority don’t have an obvious reaction. Yet, Bee explains, “It’s always my hope that they take our message to heart a little bit and that, with heightened awareness, it might change behavior. Like if they hear their friend being mean or using racist language, they will tell them to stop and they’ll be a little kinder.”
Bee will graduate in June. They are currently in the midst of the college auditioning process with the goal of attending theater school in New York City. Bee explains they’re sad to be moving on but that their experience in Becket has shaped them and made them ready for the future. Growing up, “I knew everybody in town, in my grade and the grade above me because it’s such a small town. I feel like what I learned from having such close relationships is that I can go out and spread the sort of homeyness that I’m so lucky to have grown up with in Becket.” (Bee’s pronouns are they/them.)
