Since we rebranded in 2018 and made the shift from The Discovery Center to RE·Center Race & Equity in Education, we’ve been re·imagining the impact we want to make with youth, schools and communities.
Over the years, we’ve moved away from simply celebrating diversity and gone a step further, helping people learn how to actively be anti-racist and make sustainable, systemic change towards a more equitable future.
We asked ourselves: how could we build more meaningful, longer-term relationships with students? What would it look like to not only teach them about equity and change makers, but also inspire them to become the change makers within their own communities? How could we still find an excuse to use our entire repertoire of camp songs?
We decided to launch our new Equity Teams for Positive School Change pilot. This three-year program involves teams of 20-25 students and a few teachers/staff members from each school to learn about equity. It helps them explore and address the impacts of racism within their own schools, and to design projects to shift those cultures.
For the pilot, we partnered with 6th graders from Kinsella School for the Performing Arts in Hartford, and Sunset Ridge Middle School of East Hartford. Each Equity Team met monthly with RE·Center facilitators, and then met together for the Retreat, held April 30th through May 3rd!
Our two Equity Teams came together for the four-day, three-night retreat, at Silver Lake Conference Center, in Sharon, Connecticut for a chance to connect with new people and collectively brainstorm ways to make their schools more equitable and welcoming places. Team members participated in a variety of workshops and leadership-building activities. In the mornings, students and teachers were intermingled in workshops discussing topics like the importance of social identities and how they can intersect, the importance of self-narrative, and ideas about food justice.
What made the retreat so magical was that in only a few days, the students were able to manifest their own culture, through collaborative expectations and accountability. They supported each other disclosing personal experiences and impacts of racism and bullying in their schools, honored people’s comfort/stretch zones, and reminded each other of people’s correct names and pronouns.
After lunch, there was plenty of time for challenges like high ropes courses, and activities including making friendship bracelets, hula-hooping, basketball and of course, enjoying s’mores. Students left on Friday with ideas for next year’s projects, and we look forward to seeing what the youth come up with!
RE·Imagine:
At the retreat, we asked our Equity Team members to re·imagine their classrooms and schools. They explored what it means to belong, and told stories about how much better and safer their schools would be without bullying. They talked about how much more they could learn with teachers who try to understand them and don’t think that they are “bad kids.” Students and teachers imagined what their school could look like if budgets weren’t a concern, or if every student was cared for, no matter their identities. They asked themselves what their schools would look like, feel like, be like, without inequity.
The students wrote stories about the changes they want to make, why they want that to change, and how their life would be as a result. One student felt that teachers should look at the reasons why students do things—instead of just blaming students from the start. Another student explained that LGBTQIA+ students should be treated with more respect. “People use the word ‘gay’ as an insult. That makes people feel bad, whether they’re gay or not.”
The students took it a step forward and started action-planning how they would change their schools. They envisioned meeting with the Board of Education, writing grants, and dedicating school time to learning about what it means to be a part of the LGBTQIA+ identity group. One young person said they would write a grant to fund gender neutral restrooms in every East Hartford public school. “No one should have to question where they will use the bathroom. Everyone should feel safe at school.”
Our Equity Team members are activated and ready to make a change. When asked if they thought they could make a change, every hand shot up. Get ready Connecticut!
Think back to your 6th grade self… back to worrying about who you would sit next to in the cafeteria. Maybe you had braces. Maybe you were going through puberty—growth spurts, cracking voice, and all. What was it like navigating school at 11 – 13 years old? Were there things you didn’t like about your school? What would you have changed?
