Friends Academy used the building blocks of learning – namely colors and numbers – to address a problem that many children face: bullying.

On Dec. 14, Katie Nelson and Alyson Gangi’s first grade students treated faculty members and the kindergarten class to a repeat performance of “One,” a skit based on the children’s story about bullying by Kathryn Otoshi.

The play was part of the students’ social studies program, which incorporated “being a good ally,” said Gangi. Social justice is an important topic in the Friends Academy curriculum and it is incorporated into lessons across all subjects, she added.

“One” is the story of the color, Blue, who is bullied by Red. The various colors throughout the story are metaphors for children with different personalities. Students were decked out in their respective colors with paper bands on their heads denoting their color. Though the other colors are sympathetic to Blue, the central character, they never step in to help.

Subsequently, Red becomes “bigger and stronger” until all the other colors fall victim to Red, too.

However, the number one comes along to save the day, standing up to Red. The colors learn to stand up to themselves by following One’s lead, saying “Me Two” and “Me Three” and so on until Red has been outnumbered. Blue, who changes into the number six, finally stands up to Red, saying “Blue might not be hot, but Blue can be super cool!”

The story takes a sweet turn when the numbers offer to let Red be a number, too, delineating the importance of forgiveness as well.

The overarching message of the story is “sometimes, it only takes one” to stand up to a bully.

“A lot of students were moved by [the story],” said Nelson. “A lot of them could identify with the moral.”

“[Bullying] is an ongoing subject we try to tie into everything that we do,” Gangi said. “Learning, taking action and being responsible.”