The Scary Guy brought his anti-hate curriculum to Austin, Minnesota, teaching students and community members about bullying and respectful communication. Teachers noticed immediate changes in how students spoke to each other. He and his wife Catherine left behind curriculum materials so the schools and local hockey team can keep the work going.
—visit to Austin, The Scary Guy has left the area and left a mark on the community. The Scary Guy spent his time with parents, students, and teachers and lived in Austin during his stay. But what effect did he leave on the community? ABC 6 News reporter Andrew Lovelace tells us what he and others have to say of his visit.
The Scary Guy says Austin's problems are no different than any other of his stops, but—
What I saw was absolutely unbelievable. I mean, it Far surpassed whatever I could have thought in my mind of what people can really do when they pull together and work together.
He spent most of his time teaching youth in the public schools. Educators say they're already seeing a difference.
I'm hearing the kids are using the phrases, they're using the comments, they're— that is yours, that came out of your mouth, that doesn't belong to me.
Austin's Community Against Bullying group was the primary advocate for bringing him to the city. Convincing parents and teachers that he could help.
I think what really made this exciting is that parents and teachers were on board before I got here.
They wanted to know, "My kid is asking me all these questions about the pledges, my kid is asking me about the 3 questions. I need to know how to respond to them when they're coming to me with this stuff.
I want to be educated." Before The Scary Guy left, he and his wife, Catherine, who's been an educator for over 23 years, handed over the curriculum so the schools can continue the goal to eliminate hate and violence.
Each school will be getting them, and even a hockey team. You know, we're all doing this as a community initiative, you know, a group, a community effort.
It's got to be our effort now to deliver the curriculum, to maintain the momentum.
From here, we're basically kind of like on a mission with them.
In Austin, Andrew Lovelace, ABC 6 News.
Community Against Bullying was so encouraged with what they saw from The Scary Guy, they plan on having him back to help give teachers more guidance on how to deal with bullying. Rochester Police
