KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Wayside Waifs No More Bullying! Program was named the Best Youth Humane Education Program by the Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE) Members and Non-Members.
Wayside Waifs’ Humane Educators and their companion animals teach the No More Bullying! (NMB) curriculum in elementary schools across Kansas City. Wayside Waifs created the violence prevention program as a positive approach to ending human and animal bullying and violence. No More Bullying! is a truly innovative primary prevention program in its approach to encourage students to practice behaviors and values with animals and people, that, if practiced every day, can help stop the cycle of violence.
No More Bullying! teaches 3rd-5th grade students the importance of practicing five core character traits, or values: responsibility, being humane, compassion, self-control, and integrity. Respect, self-respect and courage are topics also discussed within the curriculum.
The No More Bullying! curriculum is taught in 5, one-hour sessions. A Wayside Humane Educator visits classrooms with their companion animal and teaches the curriculum, completely free of cost to schools in the Kansas City Metro area. Wayside provides a grade appropriate, full color journal complete with extension activities related to the core values for each student in class. Wayside reaches thousands of students each year in the Kansas City area. In addition, organizations in 44 cities across 26 states throughout the country have purchased the curriculum to implement in their own communities.
The program’s lessons are rooted in Social Emotional Learning concepts, with independent researchers finding student gains in the areas of Empathy, Self-Respect and Self-Management, areas aligning with the CASEL framework for Social Emotional Learning. By utilizing these concepts, the No More Bullying! curriculum seamlessly corresponds with lessons already being taught in the classroom.
In addition to teaching the program locally, the No More Bullying! program is available for schools and organizations outside of the Kansas City area to purchase and teach in their communities. To date, organizations in 44 cities across 26 states throughout the country have purchased the curriculum, expanding the reach of the program to a national level.
Purchasers of the program can expect clearly outlined and easy to use lesson plans, providing comprehensive scripted lesson plans that can be incorporated with classroom pets, as well as school support animals. In addition, Wayside has created a community portal where educators both locally and nationally can receive support and find resources such as additional lessons, classroom posters, webinars, and discussion boards.
In 2023, made possible by Hills, Wayside welcomed four No More Bullying! fellows to their campus to shadow the program, learn implementation techniques and receive one on one mentoring from Wayside’s humane educators over the course of multiple days, in order to bring the program back to their communities. In 2024, thanks to a generous grant from American Century, Wayside will again be able to provide shelters and community organizations with this fellowship opportunity.
To watch a video about the program, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ4WSqumMYE
To see more about Wayside’s “No More Bullying!” program, visit: https://secure.waysidewaifs.org/site/SPageNavigator/Humane%20Education/NMB_Home.html
To read about the Educator’s Choice Winners from APHE’s website, visit: https://aphe.org/2023educatorschoicewinners?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3og_OgIQ-KOXeYlC0FZtTl4LxJ5zfAkY-zH88XeOxt_HxdbAglR7bcdDQ_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw
About Wayside Waifs
As Kansas City’s largest and most comprehensive no kill pet adoption campus, Wayside Waifs prepares pets and people for the bond of their lives. More than 27,000 pets and people are served annually through pet adoptions, youth education, canine training programs, and community outreach. Wayside is a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity with regional and national reach. It is supported by private donations and grants. To see all of the animals available for adoptions or to donate, please visit WaysideWaifs.org.
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