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Home » News » GSA leads a powerful anti-bullying workshop at the Kitsap Youth Rally.

GSA leads a powerful anti-bullying workshop at the Kitsap Youth Rally.

March 27, 2026/Susan Trower
WSA's GSA Club members on the morning of the 2026 Kitsap Youth Rally at Olympic College, checking out the programs and cutting their hand shapes for the community mural

Members of West Sound Academy’s GSA Club were at Olympic College early on Tuesday morning, ready to take part in the 29th annual Kitsap Youth Rally for Human Rights. So…what is a youth rally? It's a gathering of students from across the Kitsap Peninsula, featuring music and student-led workshops on social justice and human rights. The Rally is sponsored by Olympic College, Kitsap Safe Schools Network and West Sound Academy. This year’s rally brought together 363 students and 61 of their adult leaders!

The GSA Club decided to bring a workshop to the rally based on what they had learned about Theatre of the Oppressed in Ms. Thalia’s Theatre 10 class. They knew they wanted to address a problem applicable to high school students, so they prepared two scenarios about bullying. They started with bullying taking place in a school hallway. Since the rally’s theme was “Be Your Own Influencer,” the GSA had the other scenario take place online.

WSA GSA members acting out the online bullying scenario for their forum theatre workshop at the 2026 Kitsap Youth Rally
An audience "spec-actor" takes the place of the protagonist in the online bullying scene, with WSA GSA members and a WSA parent chaperone watching - 2026 Kitsap Youth Rally
GSA club members hoped that their audience would gain something from watching – and participating – in the performance. Juniper Wolff explained, “The goal of forum theatre is to practice fighting/facing oppression so that you can do so better in real life. I hope that the people who came to our breakout room feel more prepared to face bullying.” Juniper noted that there were lessons for both club members and their audience. “The more perspectives, the better, I think. There were so many brilliant ideas I hadn’t thought of, and I’m sure many people in that room had a similar experience.”

Meanwhile, at the Olympic College gym, WSA music teacher Paul Burback ran two Open Mic! sessions, assisted by Wyatt Marchand and Cora McCallister. Paul facilitated backup music as students came up to perform their favorite songs. Paul recalled one point where a WSA student got up to sing a song, and students from the seven other schools represented at the rally clapped and cheered, then got up to dance.

Paul recalled, “You would expect at an event like this that students from different schools would just stay in their cliques, but everyone is so supportive and kind,” adding, “It’s very sweet.”

WSA Music teacher Paul Burback in the Olympic College gym for the Open Mic! workshop at the 2026 Kitsap Youth Rally
The rally host this year was Olympic High School, so its student committee chose the theme, designed the t-shirt, and planned the opening and closing ceremonies. Next year, West Sound Academy is the host, meaning our 9th through 12th-grade students will be running the rally at Olympic College! Save the date: March 23, 2027!
The WSA crew at the 2026 Kitsap Youth Rally
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