On Friday, Feb. 9, teachers gathered in the Learning Commons during their lunch period to attend a short, 30 minute seminar, with around 61 teachers attended. They offered Subway sandwiches and chips for all attending faculty.

Faculty members, Ryan Johnson and Eric Eubank led the event. The Lunch and Learn concept is going to be implemented into freshman and sophomore classes this year, and junior and senior classes for the 2018-19 school year.

“We want to see peers have a positive voice with one another as well as with teachers,” Eubank said.

10 student mentors led group circles to ask questions like, why do you come to school everyday?

“The idea was to try to get teachers on board before we start implementing the concept in homerooms around the school,” junior mentor Erika Rogers said.

They incorporated a talking piece so that everyone got to share their thoughts on the subject matter. They went around the circle each answering the questions truthfully and without judgement.

“We want students to have the opportunity to voice how they feel without being criticized,” Johnson said.

Although Lunch and Learn is new this year, the concept of creating peer-to-peer relationships is not a new idea at FHN, as we offer this kind of experience 4-6 times a year to the staff so they can better incorporate team building into classrooms.

“The whole idea is that the school can turn into a place that feels safe,” Eubank said.