Glee Actor Visit to AHS Not Finalized

An Annandale High School official prematurely reported that a star from the television show "Glee" would be speaking at AHS as part of the White House's anit-bullying initiative. Annandale Patch picked up on a report about this in the A-Blast student newspaper and posted the story below.

However, according to a White House press spokesperson, the anti-bullying initiative visit with Shum's involvement has not been confirmed or finalized, and it is not at all certain that any White House anti-bullying initiative event will be hosted at the school.

Patch (and the A-Blast) regret the error.

Original post Tuesday, Dec. 6. 5:50 a.m.:

One of the actors from FOX's popular televsion show Glee will visit Annandale High School next week as part of the White House's anti-bullying initiative.

Harry Shum Jr., 29, plays Mike Chang on the musical comedy show. On Thursday, Dec. 15, he will speak to students about the negative effects of bullying along with White House staff, according to the AHS student newspaper, The A-Blast. Shum has been part of the Glee cast since the show premiered in 2009. It is now in its third season.

According to Fairfax County Public Schools, AHS only learned about the event on Tuesday.

Shum isn't the only celebrity lending a voice to the anti-bullying campaign. Pop singer Lady Gaga visited the White House on Tuesday for the same initiative.

The Obama administration launched the anti-bullying campaign earlier this year when it held an anti-bullying conference. The website, StopBullying.gov was created in conjunction with the campaign to "provide information from various government agencies on how kids, teens, young adults, parents, educators and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying."

“What the children will tell you is that many of them are so paralyzed by fear that that’s all they think about in school. We want to free them from that, because every child should be able to go to school and feel that they are in a safe and secure environment," said Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett to the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart back in March.

The administration estimates that bullying affects 13 million students.

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