Seneca Valley’s improved C.A.R.E. or Olweus program will begin during the first few weeks of March.

This comes as a surprise, given that Seneca’s Senior high school has not participated in the Olweus program during the 2016-2017 school year. This is, according to Mr. Butchle, is due to the school thoroughly reviewing the program to improve it.

According to students at the Intermediate high school, their Olweus program was not postponed and has continued to occur consistently throughout the school year. Reportedly, the reasoning behind the SHS being the only building to suspend the lessons is because administration was working to tailor and improve the program to particularly reach the junior and senior demographic.

Seneca’s Senior High principal, Mr. Korcinsky commented on this, saying, “They had a slightly different structure in the IHS. We looked at a couple of options and would think ‘that’s not right’. We’re not going to put something out there just to put something out there. Hopefully you guys will be receptive to this.”

Korcinsky elaborated, adding, “We looked at a couple of different programs and with the help of the student body they helped us find very relevant activities that the students will respond to. We didn’t want to use anything that was cookie-cutter or irrelevant. So it’s coming from students, as well as staff. The programs also update every so often so it’s not like it’s a book that was printed in 2013. It’s language that you deal with every day and it pertinent to things you experience on a day to day basis.”

According to the SHS dean of students, Mr. Butchle, the C.A.R.E. activities will occur on Tuesday and Wednesday, implying a duel weekly cycle. Korcinsky stated that the first day will be a three to six minute long video that is current and relevant to modern social issues, while the following day, Wednesday, and continue the lesson by providing activities or encouraging discussions on the previous day’s video.

During these lessons, students will be required to remain in their fourth period class for the entirety of activity period. Administration encourages students to remain in their classrooms regardless of whether they need to make up assignments or seek extra help.

Butchle stated, “They believe that you need to be there [for these lessons]. I think that this is important enough for you to participate. If you need to make up work or something you can use the other three out of five days to do it.”

Despite the coincidentally close occurrences, Butchle assures that the stricter activity period rules and the new Olweus program have no correlation.

The improved Olweus program will begin within the next couple of weeks.