Mix It Up

Mix It Up

supports the efforts of student activists who are willing to take on the challenge of identifying,

questioning and crossing social boundaries.

Mix It Up is a project of Tolerance.org, Teaching Tolerance,

and the Study Circles Resource Center. Visit http://www.mixitup.org for more information.

HOW TO MIX IT UP

At many schools around the country, the cafeteria at lunchtime is a social map of the whole school. A map

criss-crossed with boundaries. These boundaries exist for many reasons — habit, friendship, status, fear,

prejudice. The simple space of a cafeteria table is, for many of us, a comfort zone where we can be ourselves

with those who know us best. Touch base. Regroup. Let down the guard that classroom pressures

often require of us. For others, the lunchroom with all its boundaries is a world with its own pressures —

a world of familiar strangers and rigid expectations. But each year students across the country stir things

up in their school cafeterias. And you can do it, too. Here are some ideas to help you

Mix It Up at lunch.

REACH OUT

All it takes is one person venturing outside the comfort zone to stir things up, but on Mix It Up Day, why

not have a whole crowd sitting someplace new? Ask your friends to join in. Pitch the idea to the clubs,

sports teams and other groups you belong to. Invite other clubs to participate. Get teachers and administrators

on board. Publicize the event with posters, stickers, raps and t-shirts.

PLAN

How are you going to “do the day?” Here are 5 ways to mix up lunchroom seating.:

• Create a “calendar” out of 12 tables and sit by birth month or by Zodiac signs.

• Number several tables and draw your seat assignment from a hat.

• Draw colored candies out of a bag and sit with the matching tablecloth.

• Find a table where you don’t know more than two people.

• Give each person a “ticket” that matches the color tag on a chair.

ACT

The day has arrived and you’re sitting at a new table staring at a bunch of people you don’t know.

What now? Here are 5 ideas to jump-start the conversation:

• What’s the last CD you bought?

• Imagine you rule the world. What’s the first law you’d make?

• What’s the craziest thing you ever did in public?

• You’re signing autographs. What are you famous for?

• You’re the principal. What’s the first class you drop—and what class do you add?

DIG DEEPER

How’d it go? What worked? What didn’t? What did you enjoy? Does your school need to look more

closely at social boundaries? Start a

Mix It Up Dialogue—visit http://www.mixitup.org to learn how.

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