Rock 4 Life Benefit Concert at New Milford High School

The New Milford Board of Education, New Milford Recreation and the New Milford BUDDY program is presenting Rock 4 Life, a rock concert to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the New Milford High School BUDDY program.

The Rock 4 Life concert was the brainchild of Kelly Norton who wanted to use music as a way to raise awareness on the effects of bullying. Norton's band will be performing at the concert. Her music also supports suicide awareness.

The concert, taking place May 19 at New Milford High School, will interfuse live music with presentations and videos about the effects of bullying.

Norton, who works in New Milford High School's athletic department, knows the effects of bullying first-hand because she said that she was bullied in school. 

"It wasn't until I joined the group "You're Not Alone" at Ramapo College that I realized that talking about my experience could have an impact on younger children," she said. "It certainly had an impact on me." 

Her group traveled to middle schools to speak with students about the effects of bullying and shared their personal stories as a way to reach out and educate their young audience.

Norton took that idea a step further when she started singing to promote suicide awareness about five years ago. She presented her idea to organize a Rock 4 Life concert to Doreen Zacher, the district’s Student Assistance Coordinator and Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) specialist who embraced it.

The concert is taking place May 19 in the New Milford High School Auditorium. There will be a pre-show barbecue sponsored by the New Milford PTO. The barbecue starts at 3 p.m. and the concert starts at 5 p.m. All proceeds go to benefit New Milford High School's BUDDY program and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The BUDDY program consists of high school students who act as mentors, not only to their peers, but to younger children in the district from Kindergarten through eighth grade. The word "BUDDY" is an acronym for "Bully, Undermines, Developing, Diverse, Youths."

To purchase tickets, or ad space in the playbill, contact Kelly Norton at 201-262-0172 ext. 2005 or email at knorton@newmilfordschols.org.

Tickets are $15/adults $12/students $7/seniors (65+) and children under 10 free. Barbecue food is sold separately.

Ad space ranges from $25 to $100.