No One Eats Alone: The Day Every Student in America Had a Lunch Buddy

Judging by all the tweets, shares and smiles, the 2016 No One Eats Alone Day was a smash success.

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At Dallas, Texas’ Ann Richards Middle School, seventh-grader Thomaz Vazquez told WFAA: "A whole crowd of girls and boys sat with this special needs student, and it made his day. He had a big smile on his face…it made my day seeing another kid happy."

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No One Eats Alone is a project of Beyond Differences, a student-led organization dedicated to ending social isolation. The group says that social isolation is a precursor to bullying, violence and depression.

"Middle school is the the toughest years for our students," Ann Richards school counselor Tarin Coley, told WFAA. "We have some students that before we talk to them and build their confidence, they were cutting."

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But instead of focusing on the problems, No One Eats Alone day is all about creating a space for positive — and proactive — solutions. At Fernando Rivera Middle School in Daly City, California, students were randomly assigned to tables and given activities to do:

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"They are playing games on paper, they are playing actual board games and then we have the big group games, but everyone is engaged, everyone is doing something," event organizer Sue McMahon-Dyogi told ABC 7.

Meanwhile, at Portland, Oregon’s Rosebay Heights Middle School, students prepped for the event in a very public way. First, they gave comments at a Board of Education meeting about the importance of the No One Eats Alone program. The board responded by approving a resolution that formalized the initiative across the school system. Then, the day before, the school held an assembly that had the feel of a pep rally. On the big day, they had a creative way of getting students to sit together: Tables were associated by music genres so students simply had to go to the table with the music they liked.

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At H.B. du Pont Middle School in Hockessin, Delaware, each eighth grader was given a small square of colored paper to indicate which table to sit at:

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Riverview Elementary in Hamilton, Ohio shared photos from their event on Twitter with the hashtag #SandyHookPromise, a sober reminder of the necessity of social connection.

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The goal of the event is to kickstart long-lasting relationships. Ferber Elementary School in Appleton, Wisconsin, sixth grade teacher Beth Mleziva told FOX 11, "I'm hoping it's a starting point. Our goal is to do it more than just once this year, even though this is the actual national day."

And the effort seems to be working. As one student explained, “Leave lunch with a new friend and continue the friendship through the rest of the year!"

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