promotional poster for RISE Cyber Week

The RISE Ambassadors promoted internet safety and usage consciousness during the first ever RISE Cyber Week—February 24 through 28. From daily lunch time activities to backpack ribbons, Skyline students got more and more involved as the week progressed. 

The idea was first formulated at the RISE Ambassador annual summer leadership camp and began being officially planned in mid-November by the RISE Communications Committee. In their planning, the committee had a lot to consider, including what angle they were going to take. Head of Communications Saylor Dickey explained, “[We had to choose] either thinking of it in a negative light and showing the true dangers of it or making it positive and showing that there [are] positive aspects to being online, but you need to be smart.” Deciding to go with the more positive approach, the Ambassadors came up with the idea of doing something similar to Red Ribbon Week, which urges kids to be drug-free. However, instead of red ribbons tied to fences, blue and purple ribbons were given out by teachers and tied onto student backpacks. “By tying a ribbon to your backpack, you are committing to being safe and smart online,” Dickey said. 

The activities during RISE Cyber Week encouraged this commitment. On Tuesday, students could participate in making The Kindness Wall, which was hung on the glass wall of the Media Center. The RISE Ambassadors running the activity gave out paper hearts for students to write kind messages on and add to the wall. “Log Off” Wednesday’s lunch let students take a break and engage with their peers by making friendship bracelets near the Media Center. On “Secure Surfing” Thursday, a scavenger hunt ensued as students tried to find toy surfboards hidden around the school. Once found, the surfboards could be brought back to the Ambassadors’ lunch table for a free donut. The prizes didn’t end on Thursday, however; winners of the Friday Cybersecurity Basics Kahoot, displayed on the giant projector in the Commons, were given their own prize.

According to RISE Ambassador teacher Jody Tolley, the activities were a massive success. “I got really good feedback,” Tolley said. “Lots of people enjoyed, especially, doing an activity that kind of made lunch a little bit different.” However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t challenges. Monday was also supposed to have an activity, but it ended up falling through. “Even with our very careful planning, we have to be adaptable. […] Things didn’t go as planned completely, but it worked out,” Communication Committee member Niara Warner said. 

The all around participation was better than expected, according to Warner. On top of lunch activities and ribbons, students were also really receptive to the flyers put up by the RISE Ambassadors. On these flyers, self-help pages were provided, through the scan of a QR code, for anybody who may be experiencing bad mental health due to online activity.  Warner explained, “We actually got a lot of scans through that. Many people were seeing them, and we’ve been seeing a lot more ribbons from the beginning of the week ‘til [Friday], so definitely a lot more participation than we thought which is, y’know, more than we could ask for.”