Palatine Park District Presents Screening of "Bully"

Palatine Park District invites the community to attend a special screening of the film “Bully” on Saturday, June 22 at 1:00pm at Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, 150 E. Wood Street, Palatine. The film is being presented in partnership with Harper College InZone and Northwest Community Healthcare.  

“Bully” is a documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America. This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones, and on the streets in their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. Bully is the first feature documentary film to show how we’ve all been affected by bullying, whether we’ve been victims, perpetrators, or stood as silent witnesses. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the playground. “Bully” opens on the first day of school. For the more than 13 million kids who'll be bullied this year in the United States, it's a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than excitement. As the sun rises and school busses across the country overflow with backpacks, brass instruments and the rambunctious sounds of raging hormones, this is a ride into the unknown. For a lot of kids, the only thing that's certain is that this year, like every other, bullying will be a big part of whatever meets them at their school's front doors. Every school in the U.S. is grappling with bullying-each day more than 160,000 kids across the country are absent because they're afraid of being bullied. From the first day of school through the last, “Bully” will intimately explore the lives of a few of the many courageous people bullying will touch this year.  

The film will be followed by a question and answer session led by the following panel of experts.

• Dr. Ashley B. Knight has worked in higher education for over thirteen years, the last seven in community colleges. She is currently the Dean of Student Affairs at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine and is responsible for the student conduct and behavior on this campus of over 14,000 students. Ashley earned her doctorate in Community College leadership from National Louis University and her master’s degree in Human Services and Counseling at DePaul University. She currently serves as president for the Illinois Community College Chief Student Services Officers organization and holds several leadership positions in NASPA, the nation’s leading organization for student affairs administration, policy and practice.
• Officer Stephan Liggio is an 11 year veteran of the Harper College Police Department, having joined after 8 years as a Police Officer for the Village of Carpentersville. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York at Brockport. Stephan has served as liaison to the Harper College Pride Club for several years and recently served on a 9 month task force on diversity and inclusion at Harper. Stephan is a die-hard advocate for fair and equitable treatment for all human beings.
• Rev. Michelle McNamara is a trained transitional consultant working in Intentional Interim Ministry. She received her training through the Alban Institute’s Interim Ministry Network. She also holds degrees from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, Eden Theological Seminary, and has done advanced work with the Mennonite Peace Center. Just shy of 20 years in ministry with the United Church of Christ, Michelle has been working in congregations in transition in the Northwest Chicagoland area for the last 7 years. She is a founding Board member of The Living Forward Foundation, the Chair of the Fox Valley Association Committee on the Church, and serves on the Executive Council for the Association. In her free time she enjoys working in pottery, fabric arts, and training her rescued Great Danes, but her greatest enjoyment is the time she spends with her family.
• Dr. Kathy Pluymert is the Director of Education Programs at Community Consolidated School District 15, the Elementary School District that serves Palatine. She has been working together with Illinois Positive Behavior and Supports Network to implement a Bullying Prevention program in District 15 called “Expect Respect.” Kathy has over 25 years of experience as a school psychologist, teacher, consultant and university professor. Her research and publications are in the areas of school based mental health and response to intervention.