Woodland Middle School in the East Meadow Union Free School District held several assemblies from Oct. 15-19 with the goal of educating students on nonviolence, antibullying and mental health awareness.

The first assembly was led by John Halligan, who lost his 13-year-old son, Ryan, to suicide on Oct. 7, 2003. It was revealed in greater detail after Ryan’s death that he was ridiculed by his peers both at school and online. In 2004, Halligan spearheaded Vermont’s Bullying Prevention Policy Law for his son.

A former employee for IBM, Halligan quit his job in 2009 to dedicate his time to raising awareness on mental health among teens and has lobbied for education on suicide prevention and the adverse effects of bullying. Halligan has visited more than 2,000 schools in the U.S. and shared his son’s story to promote hope and kindness.

“Mr. Halligan has made it his life’s work to spread the need for awareness and prevention of bullying and cyberbullying,” said Woodland Middle School Principal James Lethbridge.

The rest of Woodland Middle School’s assemblies centered around Rachel’s Challenge, a nonprofit organization in the United States that aims to reduce violence. The challenge, which was established by Darrell Scott and his wife, Sandy, was named after Darrell’s daughter, who was the first student killed during the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.

In addition to the assemblies, Woodland students took part in follow-up activities with high school students in the district to build upon what they learned during the assemblies.