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BOCA RATON, Fla. — The halls of most high schools are filled with groups and cliques, but a student-run club in Florida is gaining attention for being anything but exclusive.
Every day at lunchtime, some 3,400 students pack the courtyard at Boca Raton Community High School, the Sun Sentinel reports. Many of those kids are surrounded by friends, but there is a significant number who find themselves alone.
Principal Susie King told the Sun Sentinel that while the majority of students are white and come from stable homes, the school also houses minority students from 70 different countries — and the racial and ethnic groups rarely interact socially.
“It’s not a good feeling, like you’re by yourself,” student Denis Estimon told CBS News. “And that’s something that I don’t want anybody to go through.”
Estimon and his family came to the U.S. from Haiti when he was in the first grade, and he’s never forgotten how lonely that first school year was for him. New country, new language, new life.
“I remember sometimes at school that I didn’t even know how to ask the teacher if I could use the bathroom, so I’d hold it,” he told the Sun Sentinel.
In the years that followed, things changed for Estimon. Now in his senior year at Boca Raton Community High, he is beloved by his fellow students and never has to worry about staring at his lunch tray instead of chatting with friends, but he recognizes that’s just not the case for everyone.
So he decided to do something about it. With the help of two friends, he formed We Dine Together — a club that creates a safe space for students who feel isolated, friendless and lonely, particularly at lunch, according to the club’s Facebook page.
“From acceptance to breaking social barriers of isolation to building long-lasting relationships over the table,” the club description reads.
When school started up last fall, Estimon and his friends launched a full-scale effort to promote We Dine Together — passing out fliers, approaching kids who didn’t seem to have many pals and extending the invitation to any and all to meet once a week over pizza, games and good conversation, the Sun Sentinel reported. More than 60 kids have joined so far.
The effort has spread outside the halls of Boca Raton Community High — the club was featured in CBS reporter Steve Hartman’s On the Road segment. Additionally, fans have left messages of praise on the We Dine Together Facebook page.
“I wish someone had thought of this when I was younger,” wrote one commenter. “I use to eat alone in elementary school and it made me so sad for so long … you are making a wonderful difference in the world!”
“I just want to let you know how amazing you are!” wrote another. “You are our future, you make us teachers proud!”
Teacher Jordan Hernandez told the Sun Sentinel the club has made a significant difference in the school’s environment, particularly considering the often-contentious political climate in the country.
“I see coming together in one room Latinos, black, white, some students that are Irish, Haitian students — all over the map,” he said. “They have one common goal and it’s to make friends and understand each other. … It’s not just about eating pizza together but how we do life with one another.”
Estimon doesn’t plan to stop his crusade after graduation day — he hopes to form a nonprofit that allows him to integrate the program into school across the country, CBS reported.
