G. Sam Piatt, PDT Staff Writer
September 3, 2012
PDT Staff Writer
It was not a bird, and it was not a plane, but it was Omega-Man who came to Portsmouth Elementary School on Friday to speak with students between kindergarten and sixth grade on the topic of “Stop a Bully and Make a Friend.”
In the first of three assemblies, 350 students from Portsmouth Elementary, from kindergarten through second grade, school principal, Dana Pollock, teachers, and paraprofessionals were present in the school’s largest gymnasium which roared with excitement at times during Omega-Man’s presentation.
“I am very impressed with Omega-Man and the message that he is sending. It is completely aligned with the message that we want to get out to our kids, to have positive self-esteem, to get them on the right track, and help them to make the right choices,” Pollock said.
Marc Wilkes, who characterizes himself as “Omega-Man,” is an athlete and motivational speaker who has performed in over 6,000 school assemblies across America to talk to students in elementary, junior high, and high schools, equipping them with information to help identify, respond, and prevent bullying in their schools.
Tall and muscular in stature, “Omega-Man” engages his student audience by performing feats of strength, such as breaking a baseball bat over his leg to get the students’ attention.
With the number of bullying cases in schools constantly on the up rise, “Omega-Man’s” message offered comprehensive strategies for students to implement whenever they experience any type of bullying.
Audience participation was a major part of the presentation, in which “Omega-Man” had students to come up, and gave them signs with positive words, and negative words and how each word impacts a person’s character.
Pollock said that Portsmouth Elementary School teachers and staff will continue to reinforce the information that “Omega-Man” communicated to the students, and to follow-up to gage whether or not it impacts student behavior, and decreases the number of bullying incidences at the school.
“I am going to track our discipline data from here, and evaluate to see what kind of impact this has had,” Pollock said.
Pollock said the school has purchased some of the resources from “Omega-Man Enterprises,” and plans to use them to work with students in all grades in the school during the course of the school year.
Portia Williams may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 234 or firstname.lastname@example.org