South Division High School gym turned into a BMX skate park on Oct. 8, for an assembly full of flips, tricks and an anti-bullying message.
The No Hate Tour made its way to two Milwaukee high schools last week to spread awareness about mental health and bullying.
Zack “Catfish” Yankush, veteran professional BMX rider and emcee of the event, said the goal was to engage students with the thrill of bicycle motocross while slipping in positive messages about mental health and anti-bullying.
“I think if I came out here with no ramps, no BMX and I said ‘Hey, for the next 45 minutes I’m gonna talk to you guys about bullying,’ I would get eaten alive,” Yankush said. “We base it around the normal stuff, the issues that high schools have: be kind, don’t be late to class, don’t be a jerk.”
Yankush said 88% of students have witnessed cyberbullying and 20% of American high school students have thought about suicide. He told students at South Division that there is a direct correlation between bullying and self-harm.
“You might just be looking for a sign from the universe that you are enough and you matter and you are loved,” Yankush said. “This is that sign you were looking for.”
Yankush said he found BMX when he was 11, and thinks all young people can find something that will drive them like he did.
“People just don’t know how to find it and where to find it,” Yankush said.
In between messages, the riders brought up South Division High School Principal Jose Trejo and flipped over his head.
“It was a little scary,” Trejo said. “But exciting.”
A group of students showed their loud appreciation for the stunts, with one yelling “that was amazing!”
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
