14
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SOS: Community,
schools embrace
program
Continued from page 1
high school staff. Though the
program is relatively new, it
is already having an impact,
according to Bradley.
Bradley said, <Sources
of Strength is a proactive
positive culture program that
spreads messages of hope,
help, and strength across
existing social networks.
Although Sources of Strength
has been around for decades,
the program is just getting
started at SHS. As a result,
our Sources of Strength
team is putting on a series of
events in order to promote
the program and support our
community during this diffi-
cult time.=
Bradley and a dozen SOS
student mentors have put
together a Sources of Strength
care package that is being sent
out to all high school students
and their families via regular
mail as well as through email
this week. A link to the entire
package can be found at the
end of this article as well
as through a QR code (see
graphic) that allows for the
download of all the materials
through a smartphone.
Sources of Strength,
which is an international
organization, uses a colorful
wheel graphic to illustrate
the eight components that the
program emphasizes related
to where human beings find
their sources of strength.
These eight components
include family support, posi-
tive friends, mentors, positive
activities, generosity, spiri-
tuality, physical health, and
mental health.
Bradley and his students
designed the care package
to promote actions related
to these concepts includ-
ing a <Weekly Workout,= a
personal bingo-like game
dubbed <Outlaws Quingo=
and a <Scavenger Hunt.=
The Weekly Workout
includes suggestions for
things to do each day
associated with each of
the eight wheel com-
ponents. For example,
under Generosity a per-
son might check in on
their neighbor, thank an
essential worker, or donate
to a charity. Under Mentor a
person could contact some-
one who has supported them
and ask for a book, film or
music recommendation.
Outlaw Quingo is simi-
lar in that the quingo card
includes 25 boxes with sug-
gested activities to do, so
participants can read through
the quingo card and decide
which direction to take for
that day. Suggestions include
things like enjoy the out-
doors, sing or dance, read a
book for pleasure, or make
plans with a friend for after
the quarantine.
Samantha Ryan helped
modify the game to fit the
Outlaws and said, <Everyone
loves bingo and you can have
a little fun during this time
and stay connected and pull
from your sources of strength.
We are hoping that people
from beyond the school com-
munity will take part.=
Q u i n g o p l a y e r s a r e
encouraged to add their par-
ticipation to their Instagram
story and tag the Sisters
SOS account to become eli-
gible for some raffle prizes
in the form of gift cards to
local businesses that have
been provided by a variety of
anonymous donors.
The Scavenger Hunt
includes using the provided
Sisters Strong poster and
adding a message to it that
exemplifies something that
makes us stronger. People
are asked to hang a com-
pleted poster where it would
be visible from the street.
Senior Maddison Anderson
explained, <This is just one
more way to spread that posi-
tivity and hope that Sources
8
1. Family Support: This strength comes from the love
and support you get from family members.
1
2. Positive Friends: This strength comes from the
connection and direction you get from your good friends.
7
2
6
3
5
4
of Strength is all about. As
people are out on a walk and
see the posters it may cause
them to have a conversation
about it.=
The group is also planning
a campaign to send notes to
Sisters High School students
through <snail mail,= accord-
ing to students Anna Mensing
and Rachel Dale. Members
of the SOS team hope to send
notes of hope to all students
and in turn encourage them to
do the same for other people
in their lives.
Sydney Wilkins said, <I
think there is a lot of possibil-
ity for a really strong impact
for SOS as a positive culture
program, including how we
can recover from bad things
that have happened and by
focusing on good things and
things that make us better and
stronger.=
Skylar Wilkins added,
<We are trying to reach peo-
ple now who are not in school
and who may be feeling dis-
connected because that con-
nectedness is the one thing
that really helps, especially
in times like this.=
She also wanted to
express her sincere gratitude
for the financial support for
this program from anony-
mous donors.
<We are sending out mail-
ings, printing materials and
doing all sorts of stuff that we
couldn9t do without the gen-
erosity of donors. We want to
thank them somehow since
we don9t know who they are,
but we honestly couldn9t do
3. Mentors: This strength comes from the wisdom
and guidance you get from your adult mentors.
4. Positive Activities: Strength comes from the satisfaction
you feel when you do good things that you love.
5. Generosity: This strength comes from the
joy you feel when you do good things for others.
6. Spirituality: This strength comes from fostering faith, getting
connected, and practicing gratitude.
7. Physical Health: This strength comes from caring for
your body by hydrating, resting, exercising, eating right,
and going to the doctor (among other things).
8. Mental health: This strength comes from the healthy ways
you cope when you’re feeling worried, sad, or angry.
what we need to do without
them.=
Those who want or need
to connect to the care pack-
age documents directly can
access the do so through the
google document link: https://
drive.google.com/file/d/1c-
DGyRhk7JAnLlR9SXE-
BASUmBpOumOyj/
view?usp=sharing
The group has plans in the
works for a number of other
outreaches to students in the
weeks to come, according to
Bradley.
Bradley is grateful for the
tremendous support for the
SOS program.
<This program probably
wouldn9t have gotten off the
ground without the gener-
ous donations and incredible
wisdom of many community
members,= he said. <The pro-
gram has also been embraced
by all of our administra-
tors, teachers, and other staff
members. Together, we are
bringing this program to life
at Sisters High School.=
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