The Revere High School Strong Teens Activity Nights (STAN) program has planned events to promote tolerance and awareness of students with a wide range of disabilities throughout the community.

Working with programs such as the Girls’ Volleyball team, Key Club and Student Council, the Intervention Department has organized events each month where student participants and volunteers can meet up, hang out and socialize. Some of these events have included attending a movie, homecoming and the Variety show. Stephanie Duttry, Revere’s Intervention Specialist, discussed how STAN came about.

“We started this three years ago, and we had some students with an interest in going to homecoming. We wanted a safe environment for them to go, hang out with friends and have fun. We started in 2014 and with ten kids, and we decided to add more activities and invited more kids. We now have twenty to twenty-five kids per event,” Duttry said.

Revere High School Intervention Assistant Ellyn Kastelic noted a further motive for creating the club.

“We want [students with a wide range of disabilities] to have fun and make friends. We also want to promote tolerance and awareness. We want to give hands on experience to help combat stereotypes by allowing students and members of the community to look past physical disabilities,” Kastelic said.

About twelve years ago, Revere Speech Pathologist Stacie Mamula started the Gaming Club at Revere Middle School to create a safe environment for students with a wide variety of disabilities to have a good time. With this same goal in mind, Mamula created the [help] program at Revere High School. Mamula mentioned how the program has grown this year.

“This is our third year of the program, but this is the first year we have invited RHS sports teams and clubs to join us. We want them to be peer models, and we want to expose our students to what RHS has to offer. We also want to raise awareness among RHS,” Mamula said.

Mamula also commended those students who have aided in the program’s development.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the students that have volunteered with us. I think Revere has kind, talented, and compassionate student volunteers. The kids that I work with are excited to hang out, talk with and learn about other kids around RHS. It helps them feel connected,” Mamlua said.

Duttry further elaborated on how she hopes to grow the program in the future.

“We would like to expand it by increasing teacher participation and going to events outside the school. We also want to add more student volunteers and participation,” Duttry said.

Mamula noted the overall message that she wants all participants to gain from their experiences with STAN.

“I want to message to be that we aren’t two separate entities. We are a cohesive student body, and I think we need to bring this to light among the students and staff,” Mamula said.

STAN’s next event includes attending a Revere High School home basketball game, and it will occur on February 17, 2017. Students who would like to volunteer or be a part of this program should contact Stephanie Duttry at [email protected].