"I Act With Respect"

Remy and Reese Arthur

"It takes all of us, talking with others with open minds and ears and always with respect."

Our names are Remy and Reese Arthur. We are sisters, a junior and a sophomore at Saratoga Springs High School. We’re also what we call “Global Girlfriends”. We believe that we have a responsibility to be active participants in the change we think the world needs. We work together a lot, but we also have our own interests and support each other in those.

How did you meet Coach Rich Johns?
Like other lucky students we both had Mr. Johns as our 6th grade social studies teacher at Maple Ave. Middle School. We were pretty new to Saratoga Springs and he just seemed to look out for us from the beginning. He always made us feel like we were important and that he was interested in who we were outside of school, as well as inside. We told him about the summer camp our mom ran called thinkpeace workshop for girls and how at camp we worked on creating a safe place for girls to be totally accepted and respected, in our families, our community, and globally. Mr. Johns talked to us about his belief that respect was the most important part of our personal character.

How did you hear about Act With Respect Always?
In our 6th grade classes, Mr. Johns talked about respect a lot. He was just starting to turn his beliefs into a solid program and we were thrilled to be among the first who wore the AWRA t-shirts to school on Fridays! When we did, other kids would ask about it and we were more than eager to tell them. It’s all about respect, in every part of your life: the classroom, the court or the field, at home– everywhere. We learned about his 8 basic character traits and made the commitment to practice them.

How has the Act With Respect Alway mission effected you personally?
Personally we’ve both been effected by the AWRA mission. We really work on dealing with conflict in a way that is respectful. We hold each other accountable, which is cool. It’s important to both of us to teach that to our brother too–especially since he wasn’t lucky enough to have Mr. Johns this year in 6th grade! We see a lot of disrespect happening in the world, in politics, in gender issues and gay rights arguments, in professional sports, in movies…if we don’t speak up, who will? It takes all of us, talking with others with open minds and ears and always with respect.

Please share with us how you have, or will in the future “Pay it Forward”
After we both had Mr. Johns as a teacher at school, he retired. It was pretty cool, though, that he came to thinkpeace camp to talk to us about how we could “Pay it Forward”. He continues to stay in touch with us both and checks in on what we’re doing currently. We take AWRA with us everywhere! As a teen advisor for the United Nations Foundation program, Girl Up, Remy stressed the importance of treating all girls with kindness and empathy, helping to ensure that all girls know they have a voice that should be valued. She continues with spreading the AWRA mission through volunteer work, whether it’s helping rebuild homes on Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy (with the Giving Circle) or raising awareness about ongoing genocides (with Students Rebuild and CARE)– she carries with her the knowledge that we are all part of a team that must work together to make a more positive, respectful world. As the teen advisor to Mountain2Mountain.org, Reese works to raise awareness on girls rights as human rights, in Afghanistan and globally. She holds an annual community bike ride for kids as a FUNraiser for Mtn2Mtn, and talks to kids about the importance of supporting girls’ access to education and health care. She gets her younger brother and his friends all pumped up for equality. This year 8 boys rode, knowing that they had a responsibility to “Pay it Forward” and support girls around the world. Reese also is involved in the Live Below the Line Project, raising awareness about global poverty and hunger. Together we work with other SSHS students at Woodlawn, helping seniors with technology frustrations. They are so respectful to us! Last summer we took the AWRA mission (and tattoos!!) to camp in Berlin, Germany, sharing the message with 24 girls from 8 different countries. Together with our younger brother we quietly work to create awareness among teens and tweens about global issues that affect kids and our belief that even kids can do something to help.

How would you describe the Act With Respect Always mission to others?
We do this all the time! We have signs outside our house and people ask us. We wear AWRA gear and people ask us. We travel and people ask us! We tell people it’s kind of like the Golden Rule. We tell people that treating others with respect is the best way possible to communicate and resolve differences. It doesn’t make us feel good to bring someone else down, and it certainly doesn’t make them want to listen to us. If we treat others the way we want to be treated then we’re all listening and it will be easier to reach agreements and peace!

Would you recommend Rich to speak about Respect to others?
Are you kidding!? You should have heard our brother when he came home from school in 3rd grade after hearing Mr. Johns speak about Respect! He was so excited to be “in on” what we’d been talking about and thought that Mr. Johns was totally awesome! Kids love Mr. Johns! And it sure seems like parents do too! A lot of times parents ask us both about what we do and why. Yes, we both have an interest in the world. But we wouldn’t be as effective if we weren’t determined to be respectful, always. We thank Mr. Johns for teaching us that it really is at the core of all communication. We thank him for talking to us, believing in us, and for inspiring others to do what he does every single day: Act With Respect.