March 28, 2019

St. Michael’s Academy hosts ‘Bullyproof Your School’ performance

REGIONAL
Story and photo by Carolee McGrath

SPRINGFIELD – All you could hear in the gym at St. Michael’s Academy is Springfield were giggles as magician Jim Vagias pulled coins out of a student’s nose and turned three rings into one.

The former teacher used his educational background to deliver an anti-bullying message through magic to students and parents, Wednesday, March 27.

“When a person has good character, there’s no room for bullying,” Vagias told the students gathered. The education assembly, “Bully Proof Your School: The Magic of Character,” was to be presented in three sessions: to pre-school through grade five, to middle school students, and to parents later in the evening.

“I’ve been performing for students for 50 years. So many schools were asking me to address it (bullying) and I have a personal feeling that you can’t have a good school environment if there’s bullying,” said Vagias.

Vagias drove home three messages: respect, responsibility, and caring.

“We teach in religion to treat others like we would like to be treated and we talk about what a caring environment is,” said Ann Dougal, St. Michael’s Academy principal. “We work at being a caring environment out on the playground, in the lunchroom, in the hallways. We work on it every day. But this would also go to support that message.”

Vagias had the students repeat “I’m a person of good character” periodically throughout the performance. He also gave them practical strategies: no, go, and tell. He explained that telling is different than tattling. He said telling is letting an adult know that the problem is bigger than the child can handle.

“I loved it. It was funny, but it taught us lessons,” said Chloe Camara, a student in grade three. “They did a lot of explaining about how to care for others. It saddens me because I don’t like seeing people being mean to others.”

Vagias performs in school all over the Northeast, using humor to get across a serious message. He tailors his performance to the different age levels. He also had the older students laughing and engaged.

“We have to treat each other as we want to be treated. Jesus always treated people that way, even the sinners, the tax collectors, people others didn’t like,” said Dwayne Slater, a student in grade seven.

“If you are a shepherd, you would go after one sheep and leave the 99. That’s important and a great example to us to always take care of the people around you,” Slater said.

A video version of this story will be featured on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22NEWS and in the Berkshires Sunday mornings at 5:30 on Albany’s Fox 23, WXXA.