Mayor's Upstander Award Grants

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has joined Lansing School District Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul in a new initiative to help combat bullying in our schools and our community. 

Bernero and Caamal Canul came together as part of the The Mayors Campaign to End Bullying, which was launched in partnership with the Bully Project and the US Conference of Mayors. The campaign provides resources to mayors across the country to empower communities to take meaningful steps toward bully prevention.

Recently, Mayor Bernero and Superintendent Caamal Canul hosted a viewing of the documentary Bully for a group of local stakeholders from the education, business, civic, and faith communities.  Following the screening, the Mayor and Superintendent announced an ongoing commitment to bullying prevention.

The City of Lansing has committed to establishing an annual Mayor's Upstander Awards ceremony to recognize three (3) upstanding Lansing School District students.    These will be students who meet the established criteria, including acts of peacefully standing up to bullying, mediating peer conflicts,  or taking on leadership roles for positive change in their schools.

Our goal this year is to raise $1,500 in scholarship money to be divided among three future Upstander recipients to reward their excellence and commitment to bully-free schools.