Meet Gabe and Jade - Episode 9

In this week’s episode of PACERTalks About Bullying, we are excited to introduce you to Jade and Gabe, two cousins from Minnesota, who were personally impacted by bullying, and wanted to do something that would help prevent bullying for all students. In 2012, with the help from their family and community, they turned their passion into an annual fundraising event called “Spook City in the Woods,” which is designed to show that if you think the trail is scary, think how it feels to be bullied. Watch this episode to learn more about this amazing event, special thanks to Gabe and Jade for the incredible impact they have made!

Transcript

>> Hey there. Welcome back to PACERTalks About Bullying. I'm Bailey. We're glad you're here.

We just wrapped up the month of October, which is National Bullying Prevention Month. This is an awesome time of year when schools, communities, and individuals get involved to raise awareness about bullying prevention. In this week's episode, you'll meet two cousins in Minnesota who hold an event called Spook City in the Woods. Now, let's meet these amazing cousins.

>> Hi, I'm Gabe.

>> I'm Jade.

>> And this is Spook City in the Woods in Racine, Minnesota, near Rochester, Minnesota.

>> So, come on in. Enter at your own risk.

>> Spook City in the Woods is a family-friendly event first coordinated by Gabe and Jade when they were 10 and 12. Years later, Jade is now in college and Gabe a high school senior, but their mission to make a difference remains the same. Every year since 2012, each October during National Bullying Prevention Month, they, along with their family and volunteers from the community, have created a spooky trail in which hundreds go through over a single weekend. Guests give a free will donation to participate and all funds are donated to PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center. In addition to the spooky trail, there are refreshments and bullying prevention resources available. Now listen to Gabe and Jade share why they wanted to bring their entire community together, raise awareness for bullying prevention, and also raise funds for this important cause.

>> We were both impacted by bullying. I was bullied myself when I was younger and she lost a classmate to bullying and it was just something that we wanted to raise awareness for and so we decided to create an event-- what better than the month of October being anti-bullying month-- to where we could have just kind of a spooky walk in the woods and then, of course, our saying is being bullied is scarier than this. And we really wanted to get the awareness out that, like, if you think walking through like a haunted, spooky, scary woods, like that's what people go through on a daily basis. And it's just something that we really wanted to raise awareness for and make sure that people who are impacted have a way to express that. And then that's where the idea of giving 100% of our proceeds to PACER came so that way, like the National Bullying Prevention Center is able to utilize the resources to help those that are impacted and we just wanted to do our part to get that through.

>> As you just heard, the inspiration for this event comes from their own experience. In this next segment, Jade and Gabe will share their insightful advice about bullying.

>> So, I'd say for advice is that-- is to reach out. And I feel like a lot of people might feel alone in the situation and I know every, like, bullying situation is different, but there are people here to help you out and you shouldn't be ashamed of that particular thing that you're going through and just know that people really do care about you.

>> My advice would be don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Definitely, if you're in that situation, try to find someone that you can trust to talk to, whether that be someone at like your school, a friend, family. Stand up for yourself and it's something about you that they don't like, you know, just like accept that that's part of you. Don't be afraid to, like, accept yourself and just let people know that, like, you are you and you shouldn't have to go through a situation and be bullied because you're expressing yourself and just being who you are.

>> In this next segment, these cousins share their closing thoughts about bullying prevention and about why it's so important to get involved in causes that you care about.

>> When I was younger, I was bullied about so many different things and one thing I can remember in particular was my ears were too big. But, you know, that's nothing I can control, so I just, like, moved on with it. I talked to people about it. I just came to, like, a self-acceptance of it. Because of that, I wanted to be kind of inclusive of all the different people at the school because everyone has their own story and, like, even the bullies have their own story, so it's good to accept everyone for who they are, be inclusive, it's always good to know that things do change and it gets better and, you know, you can do so many amazing things at your school and for your community.

>> One thing that I'd like to say is-- we're just kind of two kids from a small town. We started in seventh grade as like 13 and, my gosh, you were--

>> I was in sixth grade.

>> Yeah, you were in sixth grade at that time. And this became, I think, just so much bigger than we had kind of intended or even thought it, like, could be. And you can do it too. Like it was so-- we obviously had a lot of help from my grandma and grandpa and that was super awesome that everyone in our family was really willing to, like, help us out and, like, raise money for this cause. But it's doable and it's a lot of fun and it's-- I think it's super important to, like, give back and so that's really-- it's a really awesome thing to experience.

>> It just-- if you find a way that you can make an impact, definitely take it. We were just two young little kids with a small idea and it became something big. So, anyone can do it.

>> Gabe and Jade's desire to make a difference really shows through in this amazing event and it's reached throughout their entire community. Special thanks to these awesome cousins, their family, and their entire community that gets involved in this event. It really shows that when we all come together we can make a huge difference and really impact our communities in a big way. That's all that we have for this week's episode of PACERTalks About Bullying. We'll see you right back here next week and remember together we can help create a world without bullying. Bye!