Actor Trevor Donovan returns to Deer Lakes, jump-starts Upstanders program to promote kindness, anti-bullying

Actor Trevor Donovan wanted Deer Lakes Middle School students to leave with one thing in mind Thursday morning.

“No one deserves to be bullied. All you deserve to be safe,” he said. “If you see someone being bullied, say something.”

His words of advice were a part of an anti-bullying assembly called “From My Perspective” held in the Deer Lakes Middle School gymnasium.

Donovan, known for his role as Teddy Montgomery on the popular TV drama “90210,” introduced a new initiative called Team Upstanders.

An estimated 450 middle schoolers along with parents and administrators attended. The presentation was a part of the Giving and Caring initiative from GAC Family, a cable TV network. The Deer Lakes School District partnered with GAC to conduct a schoolwide assembly focused on bullying prevention.

It was Donovan’s second visit to the school. School counselor Jackie Jaros met Donovan in 2016 when she won a charity auction to have lunch with him . The two kept in touch over the years. Donovan asked her if he could do an assembly at the school as he was preparing for a national campaign. He visited Deer Lakes in December 2019, when the school held an assembly called “Everybody Has a Story.”

Jaros thought the assembly went well and that the intended message was delivered.

“I want for our children to learn to accept, tolerate and honor differences in others,” Jaros said.

During the presentation, Donovan compared images to each other, asking students if each picture’s meaning changed when shown in a different perspective. High school students acted out a skit of a student being bullied and the actions to take to prevent it.

Donovan and student participants shared their accounts of being bullied and the impact it can have on others.

The skit was performed three times. The third time, a solution was shown on what to do if someone sees a person being bullied.

Students were introduced to the terms “bystander,” “target” and “upstander.” Donovan motivated students to be upstanders and step in.

“An upstander knows it’s the right thing to do, even though they know it isn’t easy to do,” he said.

A video was shown to impress upon students that kindness goes a long way because they might not know what someone is going through.

The engagement and interaction from students during the presentation blew Donovan away.

“It was really incredible to see students get excited to be a part of it,” he said.

To introduce the Team Upstanders program, 11 students received pins to be initiated as campus ambassadors. The ambassadors will work to promote an anti-bullying environment and reward acts of kindness done throughout the school.

At the end of the school year, the ambassadors and staff will choose a new set of Upstanders for next school year.

The students repeated a pledge with Donovan as a way to get “sworn in.”

Laney Dineff, an eighth grader, was one of those who received a pin. She was excited when she found out she would be an ambassador.

“I can influence and help other people to stand up to bullying,” she said.

By introducing Team Upstanders to Deer Lakes, Donovan hopes it will catch the attention of other schools across the country as he pushes for a nationwide campaign.

“I am hoping this will create a wide enough spread to get schools interested and get involved,” he said.