A select group of people were chosen to participate in Courageous Conversations about racial tensions in and outside of the school. The administrative and counseling teams worked together to develop a plan for helping students.

“Students were primarily chosen by teacher recommendations,” counselor Ms. Alysia Patterson said.

“This conversation had a large impact for the students who participated,” Patterson said. “Where we are right now is wondering how do we get out to other students who did not participate? How do we make an impact on them?”

Students worked on their listening skills and their “I feel” statements. There were also group activities that involved bubble gum and Tootsie Rolls

Sam Shull said they started with things just to get comfortable with each other.

“Then we did this one activity where everyone would stand on one side of the room and the counselors would make statements and if they applied to you, you would cross to the other side,” Shull said. “It was really interesting to see that people have very similar experiences to each other even though they may be in different ways at different times.”

Even though these Courageous Conversations only took place over a few days and with just a few students, Shull said that the students that participated are hoping that it will have a positive impact on the school as a whole.

“We talked more about what we can do going forward and basically everybody just said they could get better at setting the example and not judging people and calling people out who do.”