B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams – 2020 in Review
2020 – what a year – one that we were so happy to turn the calendar on to 2021! After outreaches over the last 16 years worldwide though, B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams (Believe It Or Not I Care) still have their thumbs on the pulse of what is happening in society with the courage to press on in the tough times to continue trying to reach struggling students and save lives!
In the past two years as an award-winning, internationally recognized nonprofit, over 74 new B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams (Kindergarten through college) have been started by school counselors and teachers worldwide, but as the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread, B.I.O.N.I.C.’S experience helped again. As we talked with school counselors and teachers across the world, we kept hearing of the increase in suicide ideation among students of all ages. We were also hearing that school counselors needed updated suicide prevention training to help them in the new world of remote learning. Through #GivingTuesdayNow in May, B.I.O.N.I.C. raised enough money to provide 572 School Counselors an updated nationally recognized virtual suicide prevention training (QPR – Question, Persuade, Refer). That meant that over 246,000 students in those schools had a safety net that they did not have before.
This year the school B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams had to adjust their outreaches due to the restrictions. Hearing of how students were struggling in so many ways, we started a #viralcaring social media campaign to give students a way to connect with peers in positive ways online by sharing positive posts that we would post each night. To increase participation, B.I.O.N.I.C. offered Amazon gift card prizes for students who shared the most posts and Amazon Gift Cards or a hotel stay for school staff members whose schools had the most participants.
#viralcaring went so well that we started it again in the fall since September was Suicide Prevention Month. Even more schools and students got involved in spreading positive messages to the world. It spread positivity for the students and gave them something to look forward to each day. The response was incredible and B.I.O.N.I.C.’S likes on the B.I.O.N.I.C. Team Facebook page went from about 400 to almost 7,500. People across the world loved our positive posts and we are planning on starting them up again soon.
We knew that B.I.O.N.I.C.’s “9/9 – I Care Day” on September 9th (on which everyone is encouraged to do 9 things that day – one thing each hour for 9 hours to make a difference in nine people’s lives) was more important than ever. Not all schools were able to participate as usual with all the adaptations the schools were going through with COVID.
Depending on restrictions, some B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams sent thank you notes to teachers, made posters for first responders, bought coffee for friends, gave chocolates to students, made calls to sick students, collected school supplies for struggling urban schools, collected gifts for the family of a student with cancer, gave positive notes to students, gave flowers to secretaries, made cookies for custodians or cafeteria workers, made cards for senior living centers, made positive chalk art drawings at the school and neighborhoods, or sent positive messages on social media, etc.
https://bionicvideos.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Taiwan+BIONIC+-+9-9.mp4
A school in Taiwan gave chocolate kisses to every student and staff member as they entered the school in the morning. The B.I.O.N.I.C. nonprofit even hosted a breakfast for first responders in 30 degree weather, and hosted a virtual 9/9 – I Care Day Rally at the end of the day to bring schools together to celebrate the difference they all made that day.
After having to cancel five B.I.O.N.I.C. Team events last spring due to COVID-19, we searched for ways to pivot events virtually and this fall B.I.O.N.I.C. adjusted effectively to host 5 virtual B.I.O.N.I.C. Team Conferences to train school staff and students in how to run B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams in their schools. Forty-nine schools attended. In the new remote/in-person/hybrid environments that kept shifting all fall, for the schools that had a difficult time in taking away time to attend a virtual B.I.O.N.I.C. Team Conference, we provided the recordings for schools to watch the conference at their leisure. As a result, 33 of those schools (from 16 states and Taiwan) started B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams this fall. We spearheaded the efforts for B.I.O.N.I.C. to raise money during Colorado Gives Day in December to scholarship schools that couldn’t afford the registration fees. Money was raised to fund 22 of those schools.
The regular outreaches the B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams have continued doing across the world in 2020 have been making new students feel welcome through luncheons – in person or virtually – to help them feel connected at school, or with New Student Ambassadors helping them the first three days of school to learn the nuances of the new school. For students who were sick, they sent get well packets with encouraging information to help with the stresses of keeping up on their class work. For hospitalized students, B.I.O.N.I.C. called their parents to let them know they had a mug with chocolates or a balloon for the parent to pick it up at school to let their student know he/she is not forgotten. For bullied students, B.I.O.N.I.C. students connected with them to let them know peers care and there is support for them at school. For students who lost a loved one, B.I.O.N.I.C. provided a pie or comfort food for the family.
B.I.O.N.I.C. Teams have made a significant difference in the lives of over 300,000 people worldwide in 2020 after a lot of effort to pivot in continuing to make their mission and efforts relevant even in the midst of a pandemic. They have empowered students – Kindergarten through college – to make a difference in the lives of peers, school staff, families, and community members to give hope in the midst of one of darkest years in recent history.
What are B.I.O.N.I.C. students learning? One alum recently said, “The life skills I learned through my B.I.O.N.I.C. Team in high school, I am still using personally to make a difference in society. B.I.O.N.I.C. opened up my eyes to the needs of the world around me and gave me skills to know how to make a difference.” That’s what the world needs in greater ways than ever before as the pandemic continues to bring devastation to our world.
