A group of 12 Middle School students from Bullis took time to participate in the recent 2013 East Ed DC Middle School Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Held at Sandy Springs Friends School, the conference asked this question: “Do you have the courage and skills to make your school safe, inclusive and fun?” and encouraged the students to “be empowered and take action.”

More than 30 schools and 700 students participated in the conference, which included case studies, dialogue groups, performances and discussion. The program is held annually for middle school students by the Eastern Education Resource Collaborative (East Ed), which provides programs and services on diversity, multicultural education and justice to schools and community agencies and families, and focuses on collaboration and dialogue to find solutions to a community’s problems.

The Bullis students plan to share their learnngs from the conference with the Middle School community at an upcoming assembly and by incorporating diversity activities into their upcoming Community Day later in the spring. The students were also motivated to expand on the Upper School’s recent “Think Before You Speak Week” and hope to start a Middle School diversity club.

Some of the students shared their reflections on the event:

• “This conference taught me the importance of making sure every student feels they can bring their true self to school. We need to make sure the Bullis Middle School allows that for everyone.”
• “I learned today that sometimes the people that I look the least like, were the people that I had the most in common with.”
• “Our brain naturally stereotypes to understand things and put things in categories, but we need to also teach our brains that no stereotype holds true for everyone we're putting in that category.”
• “This is really exciting and I want to go back to Bullis and teach my classmates some of the things I learned here!”

Photos from the event.

February 7, 2013