Students from Hutto Middle School and Bainbridge Middle School packed into the Bainbridge Coliseum lobby on Friday for a 1 On 1 Mentoring “ACT CALM: Extinguish Violence’ event in acknowledgement of Students against Violence Everywhere (SAVE), and National Youth Against Violence Week, to learn about how important it is to choose a non-violent path in their daily lives.

SAVE is a student organization that was started in North Carolina as a response to the death of a student who was trying to break up a fight and has since spread across the nation as well as foreign countries.

Pediatrician Dr. Winston Price opened the event up as the keynote speaker, and emphasized to kids the importance of realizing violent situations and being able to act accordingly.

“It (SAVE) is tremendously important in terms of creating a workable society for America and the youth,” said Dr. Price. “The youth represent the key factors that will allow us to strength our America from the bottom up. Programs like this return value with regard to stopping violence, improving health, improving the outcomes, and giving them energy to continue through with their education.”

After a short lunch break, Fire Chief Doyle Welch and the BPS fire department showed up to “extinguish violence” and talk about how important keeping calm is in violence situations in order to diffuse them. The firefighters used examples from their work to show the kids how important it is to remain calm.

Dressed in full equipment, the fire fighters told stories of times when panic set in and caused someone they were trying to help to act irrationally and violently. Welch used that as an example to show the students of how negatively that reaction impacts situations.

After the speakers, the students committed totheir mission of stopping violence by taking an oath that was prompted by Chief Welch. The students promised to prevent violence on the campuses of BMS, HMS, and Bainbridge High School once they arrive there.