Needham, Massachusetts Students "T" Up in Make a Statement Day

Students at Needham High School (NHS) last week took extra special care in the selection of their first Friday in March t-shirts. This first end-of-the-week day in March was Needham High's fourth annual Make A Statement Day, when students and staff are encouraged to wear, and share an inspiring message. One promotional flyer urged, "Make a difference, Make a T-Shirt, Make Everyone Listen." The invitation is to "have a voice and be heard without saying a word".

Make A Statement Day is organized by the Make A Statement Club (MASC), under the guidance of the Needham Youth Commission, and intended to promote themes of diversity and open-mindedness.

The event was first funded in 2005, one of 12 grants awarded from the Needham Education Foundation (NEF), in support of enriching the education experiences of Needham public school students. This year's event was also made possible through a generous donation from Mark's Moving and Storage, of Needham.

According to the NHS web site, the Club is an initiative for students to create programs that "allow youth to voice their opinions on issues of importance to them. Through provocative programming, students can raise awareness, promote discussion, and express their thoughts and feelings on issues such a diversity, tolerance, sexuality, freedom, health, and current events. The effort was modeled after a similar event at Belmont, MA high school.

For this day, students and staff decorate white T-shirts with famous quotes, favorite sayings, personal mottos, and wishes of wisdom. Some stenciled, some artistic, some scrawled. The apparel expressions included Buddhist meditations, poetry, and song lyrics. Many took suggestions from the lengthy list of topic suggestions on the Needham Youth Commission site, sharing words from Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kennedy, P.J. O'Rourke, and Aristotle. One of my favorites from the NYC site: "If Barbie is so popular why do you have to buy her friends?"