Eagle Harbor High School student Otis Doxtater will lead the entire student body and staff at the Commodore K-12 Options School through a program he created to teach tolerance, unity and kindness on Tuesday, Oct. 21.

Islanders may have seen the junior student take a public stance against bullying in the past. Doxtater has spent hours in the parking lot near McDonald’s with a sign that reads “Love and Equality” on one side, and “Stop Bullying” on the other.

“The first time my sign was too small to be read across the street, so I came back with a bigger sign,” Doxtater said. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. People honk horns; some come into the parking lot to talk with me.

“When I was in elementary school and in middle school, I struggled with getting bullied, so I know what it’s like,” he explained. “At Eagle Harbor High School everyone knows everyone and people are very accepting. I really found the right fit here. Now I want to help others feel they can talk freely about bullying prevention and know their actions can make a difference.”

Before the Tuesday morning assembly, Doxtater will visit classrooms with a strip of orange paper for each student. On one side students will write what makes them special and unique; on the one side they will describe an action they will take to prevent bullying. Each classroom will create a chain of orange links.

At approximately 10:10 a.m., Doxtater, Principal David Shockley and Sue Constan, counselor, will start at Odyssey and gather students in a silent procession to the lunchroom, classroom chains in hand. Once all have assembled, students will link class chains into one symbol of unity for the entire school. Doxtater will have orange ribbons for any student who forgets to wear the Unity Day color. There will also be surprise activities.

What will Doxtater write about himself?

“I haven’t created my link yet, but I’ll probably write that I’m a caring, loving, outgoing person, and that I try to be friends with everybody,” he said.

National Unity Day is a day when schools, organizations and communities will take a united stand against bullying. Everyone is encouraged to wear orange in a spirit of support, hope and solidarity with the message that ending bullying has to start with each of us. Every act of kindness and compassion matters.