In the wake of suicide, anti-bullying event for Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — After the recent suicide of a local middle-schooler and an attempted suicide by another, Donny Parker, CEO of Vengrid, Jeff Dalrymple, gym manager at Anytime Fitness of Moses Lake, and others have decided to hold anti-bullying event Resolve 2018 in the Moses Lake High School auditorium.

The event will be held between 6 and 9 p.m. on July 20

The brainchild of Parker and Scott Schmig, a candidate for Grant County assessor, the event isn’t designed to focus on the tragedy of recent events, Parker said, but rather on positive methods of improving the situation for school children.

“We’re not going to ignore what’s happened, we’re going to pinpoint the problem, but then we’re going to positively discuss solutions,” Parker said. “This isn’t about calling people out, it’s about bringing people together.”

Teaching self-esteem and self-confidence are going to be a big part of that effort, Parker said, as well as discussing the effects of bullying on both the bullied and on bullies.

Scheduled speakers include Schmig, Parker, Financial Literacy Educator Rob Johnson and Brenna Pirozok, a 2018 Miss Washington USA contestant. Isaac Jones, an anti-bullying activist who runs Sacred Scars Mixed Martial Arts and local Martin Luther King Committee’s anti-bullying campaign, will also be speaking.

Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, will be speaking at the event to raise awareness of STOPit, an anonymous reporting app recently adopted by the Moses Lake School District that allows students to report incidents of bullying to school administrators.

“Kids are the first ones who are aware of who gets bullied and who is doing the bullying, but they don’t say anything because they don’t want to be bullied themselves,” Manweller said. “Students need a safe place to report bullying.”

The app has been a perennial legislative priority for Manweller, though statewide implementation of the app has been regularly stymied in Olympia. Manweller hopes that the app can help school officials and parents get ahead of not only suicides, but also potential school shootings.

Event organizers are looking for teens willing to participate in the event and discuss their resolutions to end bullying. Those interested in participating in the demonstration can reach Parker at 509-771-9007.