Safe Schools Ambassadors Program

Youth listen to each other. Some of the most effective bullying prevention comes from the students themselves. The Safe Schools Ambassadors program trains students to stand up against bullying among their peers. Nearly 200 youth at Polk Middle School, Ernie Pyle Middle School, and Jimmy Carter Middle School are official ambassadors who work every day to make their schools safe and healthy places for all students.

SSA Spotlight: Jimmy Carter Middle School

Amanda C. Kooser

Deborah McCabe is one of 1200 students at Jimmy Carter Middle School. The 8th grader is also one of 60 Safe Schools Ambassadors that step up to stop bullying throughout the day. "The teachers don't hear everything. They can't see everything and be everywhere at the same time. You have to have everybody looking out for each other," says McCabe.

Safe Schools Ambassadors are students that have gone through intensive training on how to recognize and deal with bullying in all its forms. They commit to speaking up against bullying, including students that have been excluded, and bringing in adults to help when necessary. "They are good skills to use when you see a bad situation going on with bullying at school," says Jonathan Orozco, an 8th grade ambassador. "I've solved a lot of different situations with kids. Usually, it's about a fight and I talk one of the kids out of it."

SSA Spotlight: Ernie Pyle Middle School

Amanda C. Kooser

Rachel Ochoa-Tafoya (school counselor and SSA program
adviser), Sabrina Giron (7th grader), Michelle Armijo
(instructional math coach and SSA family group facilitator).

When Ernie Pyle Middle School 7th grader Sabrina Giron hears or sees bullying, she knows exactly what to do. If a friend puts someone down, she counteracts it with something positive. If she hears about a fight, she brings in a teacher to help.

Giron is one of 57 Safe Schools Ambassadors at Ernie Pyle in Albuquerque. She has been an ambassador since the program started late last school year. "There have been less fights this year than last year. A lot of people are more friendly to each other when they are walking down the hall," says Giron.

SSA Spotlight: Polk Middle School

Amanda C. Kooser

There are 475 students at Polk Middle School in Albuquerque's South Valley. Sixty of them are trained as Safe Schools Ambassadors. Funded through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative, the ambassadors program gives students skills for dealing with bullying. Polk is one of three schools that are using the program before rolling it out to more locations around the district.

Polk already had anti-bullying measures in place when the school first adopted the Safe Schools Ambassadors program last school year. Bullying often takes place where adults can't see it. That's where the ambassadors come in. "It's about stopping something when it is small and giving kids the tools to know how to do that on their own without always having to get adult help," says Polk counselor Debbie Abrams-Burroughs.