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MARIETTA - Tuesday was nothing like Jullye Queiroz expected. A seventh-grader at East Cobb Middle School, the 12-year-old was taking part in Challenge Day.

"I never expected to have a connection with my peers. I found stuff out about them that (I) didn't know. We have a lot in common. I'm definitely going to treat people better than I used to. I'm not going to judge people by how they dress or what they look like," she said. Challenge Day, a nationally acclaimed diversity-training program is visiting East Cobb Middle School this week. Every day, Tuesday through Friday, a different group of seventh-grade students won't spend their time in class. Instead, they'll be learning to see the world in a different way. By the end of the week, 350 middle schoolers are expected to have completed Challenge Day, a program that addresses issues like violence, teasing, racism, peer pressure and harassment.

Bathsheba Harambe is on staff with Challenge Day, and travels the country leading programs. She's passionate about her job.

"It's an experiential day to see that each and every person can be included and loved, once we know who each and everybody is," Ms. Harambe, a dynamic woman who asked Challenge Day participants to call her "Sister B," said. "The wall is broken down. We are both individuals walking through life. It's not about class or where you live, it's about life experience. All those barriers that separate them, they start to come down."

As the day started at East Cobb, adult leaders danced and screamed as 77 seventh-graders filed into the room. Some students laughed and played along; others eyed the teachers and parent volunteers helping lead the day curiously.

Leaders, rooting like cheerleaders, urge everyone to jump wholeheartedly into icebreaker games meant to help build relationships. With each round, the criteria change. Once, participants are told to find someone of a different cultural heritage. Next, it's someone who uses a different toothpaste brand. Then, someone who has a different size family.

Finally, the sharing began: students and adults are led to talk about the four most important things in their life, to tell what they are grateful for, to explain what their relationship with each member of their family is like.

By the end of the day, the change was apparent.

"You want to be treated with respect, so you should treat (others) with respect also. Everybody has problems, struggles," Neena Carter, 12, said.

J.P. Solves said he was especially touched by an activity where participants were encouraged to step across a line if they had ever felt "different" because of any number of criteria, such as racial disparities or struggles with suicide or depression.

"Now that I see that other people are going through the same things I do, I might treat them differently," he said.Starlet Riviere is responsible for bringing Challenge Day to East Cobb. Ms. Riviere, who has a seventh-grade son, Colby, at East Cobb and serves as co-chair of the school's foundation, was inspired to bring the program to East Cobb after she saw Challenge Day featured on Oprah in January 2007. To Ms. Riviere, Challenge Day was a perfect fit for East Cobb, a school with high economic, racial, and cultural diversity.

According to school officials, about 52 percent of the 1,150 East Cobb students are economically disadvantaged, and 14 percent have limited English proficiency. East Cobb is a "majority-minority" school; more than 46 percent of students are black, 31 percent are white, 13 percent are Hispanic, and the rest fall into various other racial categories. That type of diversity makes East Cobb the perfect setting for Challenge Day, Ms. Riviere said.

"They leave this room understanding that they have to take responsibility for their own actions. That's empowering," she said. "Any issue that society separates itself on, we cover at this school."

Butler Day, who was volunteering Tuesday because he has a nephew at East Cobb, said he was most amazed to see the similarities that such a diverse group of people shared.

"In order to bring people closer together, you've got to start at home, in their own community. You've got to start small," Day said. "Start by teaching your kids how to accept the person standing next to them."

The changes didn't stop in the lives of the students participating. Jane C. Moore, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, said she saw that it was important to remember that students are real people, with problems and dreams.

"I think we can all get caught up in the tests and the curriculum, and forget they are students and have concerns," she said. "It was just a great opportunity to learn more about the students. I'm going to be more concerned about the students' backgrounds, and their issues and concerns.

"It was one of the best days. It was incredible," she said.

East Cobb Middle School Principal David Chiprany said the day was one step toward making school a safe and happy place. When school is a positive experience, that improves student achievement, he said.

"At middle schools in general, building relationships is huge. I hope this time together will carry over through the rest of the year," Chiprany said.

This was only the second Challenge Day to take place in the state of Georgia. The first happened in Bainbridge during the fall semester. Challenge Day is a non-profit organization based in Concord, Calif.

efarnsworth@mdjonline.com

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