’Chalk about Love’ initiative teaches students about teen dating violence

Chester Academy was one of four Orange County high schools visited by Fearless! Hudson Valley Sept. 28 through Oct. 2, spreading awareness of teen dating violence through the “Chalk about Love” initiative. The program encourages students to spread positivity with sidewalk art, using words and drawings to talk about what love is to them – and what it is not.

Students were challenged to write about what love means to them, focusing not just on romantic love, but the different types of relationships they experience in life. Representatives from Fearless!, a service provider for victims of domestic violence in Sullivan and Orange counties, used the opportunity to connect with and educate students as they created.

It was Chester’s first time hosting “Chalk about Love,” and students showed up to express their messages during their lunch periods. Juniors and seniors led the first group, covering the blacktop with vibrant displays of encouragement and inspiration for the underclassmen who arrived during the following periods.

School social worker Tyra Busigo connected with Fearless! to get the program’s last available spot, and especially noted students’ willingness to participate. “I loved that they jumped right in; there wasn’t any hesitation,” she said.

Next to the box of chalk were materials on setting boundaries, identifying intimate relationship red flags, and how to support someone who may be experiencing relationship or intimate partner violence.

“Every day is challenging, but the next day is different...Never give up, even on the hard days,” said senior Vivian Corey of her artwork, a collaboration with classmate Isabella Martino.

One student’s artwork read ‘Love is home,’ inspired by her love for cooking with her mom. For another student, love is a flower, blooming and beautiful. Others wrote messages of acceptance. Nearby lay multicolored messages of peace, and encouragement.

“Each individual person might be taking something away that means something specific for them, but they all worked together, and were all participating in it. It’s a rare environment that we have in the school where everyone feels connected, and I really want them to pull from that, and remember that,” added Busigo.