L-K says 'no' to bullies

From Staff Reports

LINDEN-- Shannon McGuire recently presented an anti-bullying program to junior high and high school students at L-K CISD.  
McGuire currently serves in the Juvenile Probation Dept. for Collin County.  He is also the pastor at New Generation Baptist Church in Paris, Texas and he serves on the school board for Roxton ISD.  
McGuire discussed how people can basically be placed into three groups-eagles, buzzards, and turkeys: eagles soar above all negative interaction with others-we need to aim to be eagles; buzzards prey on those who are hurting-often these people are hurting themselves and turkeys have wings but can’t fly-don’t be a turkey!
He also discussed planting positive seeds.  
“We all plant seeds regardless of what we do.  Our seeds are either positive or negative.  You never know when you will need support/help from others somewhere down the line,” he told students.  He discussed how students might one day have a major medical need and go to an emergency room and the doctor who is working at that time might be a person that they were mean to and bullied in school.  “You never know what paths life will lead you down-we need to plant positive seeds and encourage and uplift others,” he added.
McGuire also discussed how he knew a student while he was growing up whose parents were not in the picture and the young man grew up with his grandmother.  They were extremely poor.  The student’s clothes had holes in them so often that others started calling him “Cheerio” because he had so many holes.  
The student reported to his grandmother that he did not want to go to school because they were calling him Cheerio.  The grandmother took the child into the kitchen. She got a bowl, some milk, and a box of cheerios.  She poured the milk and the cheerios in the bowl and got a spoon out of the drawer.  She said “Let me show you something baby. Notice that when I push the cheerios to the bottom of the bowl they always raise back to the top!  Remember-others will always try to push you down but a cheerio always rises to the top!”
“The message was partnered with a song that spoke of cheerios rising to the top,” District Superintendent Trevor Rogers said. 
“What a great message for our students. L-KCISD is thankful to Mr. McGuire for his coming and helping to make L-KCISD a great place for our kids.”