District Five school’s Hate Won’t Win campaign gets nod from state, national leaders

IRMO – A Lexington-Richland District Five school’s effort to campaign against hate and intolerance is being praised by state and national leaders as a model for others nationwide.

Dutch Fork Middle School’s Hate Won’t Win initiative will the used to show other schools “what they can accomplish,” national Hate Won’t Win leader Alana Simmons told students during a visit to the school on Oct. 26. Simmons, the granddaughter of Charleston shooting victim Daniel Simmons, personally thanked students for their work and commitment to the national movement.

The group also has received an e-mail letter from President Barack Obama this month, and Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was photographed holding Dutch Fork Middle School’s Hate Won’t Win pledge in support of the initiative. Simmons called efforts by the students inspirational.

“They say I inspired them, but they really and truly have inspired me,” said Simmons, a middle school teacher who is working on a Hate Won’t Win Educational Initiative. “These students are the future leaders, so it’s important that they be involved in our movement. A lot of the time, adults don’t give students credit for what they can do…The students at Dutch Fork Middle have proven that they play a major role in changing our society and ensuring that Hate Won’t Win.”
 

Members of Dutch Fork Middle’s Junior Beta Club launched a school-wide Hate Won’t Win campaign in September to honor the legacy of the nine people who were killed in a church shooting this past June and to campaign against hate and intolerance. The school campaign includes a social media challenge, asking students statewide and nationwide to perform “acts of love” and post pictures on Facebook using the hashtag #hatewontwinDFMS.

The school will also bring in speakers, hold an art contest, sell t-shirts and create events to spread the word to other students. Obama thanked the group for giving “insight into what’s happening outside of Washington” in an email on Oct. 26.

“We think this has great potential to grow,” said Dutch Fork Middle School Guidance Counselor Sharisse Lee, who is helping to organize the school’s initiative. “The students are writing letters to news outlets, to politicians, civil rights leaders and others to get them to come to our school and see what Irmo, South Carolina is bringing to the table with this Hate Won’t Win campaign.”  

On Sept. 18, the school kicked off a yearlong series of “Hate Won’t Win” events with an assembly and presentation by Lilly Filler, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, co-chair of the Columbia Holocaust Education Commission and secretary of the South Carolina Holocaust Council.

Students also have made Hate Won’t Win place mats decorated with positive messages, distributing their gifts to a local correctional institution. Other upcoming projects include a music video, said Lori Wenzinger, a Dutch Fork Middle School eighth grade history teacher who also is helping to organize the school’s initiative.

“We can’t wait to inspire schools nationwide with the video,” Wenzinger said. “Dutch Fork Middle School is throwing down this challenge to all schools in District Five and beyond because children can make a difference.”