Students at Cheshire Elementary School and Olentangy Shanahan Middle School joined millions of other students across the country to help break down social barriers by participating in Mix It Up at Lunch Day. The nationwide event encourages children to sit with someone new in the cafeteria for just one day.  Cafeterias are the focus of Mix it Up efforts because that’s where a school’s social boundaries are the most obvious.  Mix it Up is a positive step to help create learning environments where students see each other as individuals, getting students to step out of their cliques and get to know someone else.  Students at Shanahan Middle School were given leaves during lunch to place on a family tree in the Shanahan hallway to be a reminder of  ”common roots”.  They also created a video showcasing students who spoke a language other than English which was shown during the lunch periods.

At Cheshire Elementary School, students made posters and signs that hung in the cafeteria, and teachers and staff sat at lunch tables with students they had not met.  Students then wrote about their experiences and created a quilt with handprints.