What do kids get out of Mix?

So you’ve decided to Mix It Up at Lunch – either for the first time, or as a returning participant. And you ask yourself, “Why Mix It Up? What do kids get out of this?”

Turning to some of our Model Schools – schools who have carried out an effective Mix It Up campaign, not just on Mix It Up at Lunch Day, but all through the year – we find many answers to that question.

From a Pennsylvania middle school: “The kids usually go into it saying, ‘I don’t want to meet new people,’ or, ‘This is stupid.’ This quickly changes when they realize everyone feels the same anxiety. They begin talking with other students and enjoy learning about one another.”

Others tell us the structure given to the event allows even the shiest and most bashful students to step out of their comfort zones. An Ohio middle school reported this: “A little girl came up to me crying that she had made friends and was able to sit with other students and have fun at lunch for the first time.”

That school holds multiple Mix It Up at Lunch events, regularly throughout the school year. The result? “No student sits alone at lunch, and students sit with other groups regularly. We have even had groups of students get up and sit with any student sitting alone.”

Even when a first-time Mix event is a bit rocky – reluctant students, negative comments – the reason for holding Mix It Up events is clearer. As a Maryland elementary educator told us, “It just shows me more education about the day needs to occur.”

Involving students in that education, so it becomes peer-to-peer communication, is a powerful force. A high school in Virginia attributed its Mix It Up success to “the fact that students created the ideas, advertised, provided the music, did the cafeteria setup and took ownership.”

And sometimes, the impact on one student drives home the power of Mix It Up at Lunch Day. Consider this, from a middle school in New York: “We have a student who typically does not speak to anyone. She does not speak in class and prefers to sit alone during lunch and/or free time. It was an absolutely moving experience that she opened up and participated in our event.”