Buchanan senior Andi Frost isn’t the type of person to shy away from adversity.

So when she and some of her friends noticed a growing problem of bullying and the spreading of rumors among girls at her school last year, they took action.

“We thought we might as well do something about it,” Frost said.

That “something” led to the creation of a student driven relationship-building sleepover event at Buchanan High School called Girls Be Positive.

Last year, around 100 girls grades 8-12 spent the night at the school while attending fun and educational workshops designed to bring the girls closer together.

Buchanan senior Brittany Schmidt, who attended the sleepover, said she noticed the results right away.

“Underclassmen weren’t so afraid of upperclassmen and the upperclassmen weren’t being rude or obnoxious to underclassmen,” she said. “It put them on more of a friendly basis.”

Frost noticed a difference, too.

“You see people in the hallways but you don’t really know everyone,” Frost said. “If you are staying up until 5 in the morning having fun and watching movies you get to know people a lot better.”

The second annual Girls Be Positive event, open to female students grades 9-12, will take place Friday, April 11 at the high school.

It is being funded partially with a $2,000 grant from the Michigan Gateway Youth Advisory Council. Southwestern Michigan College is also sponsoring the event.

A student committee does most of the work planning and setting up the evening. Frost, Schmidt and junior Morgan Cabanaw were at the school during spring break pressing T-shirts and filling goodie bags that will be handed out to attendees.

Cindy Soltys, adult advisor, said a number of positive female role models would be volunteering their time to run workshops during the evening.

“It gives the girls the opportunity to interact with positive women who are doing great things. Many of them are alumni,” she said.

Dr. Marcie McEvoy, a school psychologist specializing in peer-to-peer relationships, will offer a hands-on workshop about female relationships.

After the workshops are over, students will have the opportunity to watch movies set up in four classrooms.

“Each theatre has a different genre of movie,” Soltys said.

For more information about the event, contact Buchanan High School at (269) 695-8403.