Recently, a small group of Rush-Henrietta students attended the ROC2Change Student Summit on Race. ROC2Change is a student-driven initiative of Monroe County that emerged in an effort to address race relations in the county’s diverse communities. The open, equitable atmosphere enables discussions between students from over 30 districts to facilitate the creation of anti-racism movements within their schools and also the larger community. Through biyearly, region-wide student summits, this organization aims to empower the youth, allowing them to trespass the boundaries and confinements set by age, geography, life experience, and race.
The November 2023 summit, held at Monroe BOCES 2 in Spencerport and sponsored by Victor Central School District and Wilson Commencement School in the Rochester City District, carried the focus, “Give Respect to Get Respect.” Participants at the summit were split into three separate subgroups: discrimination, personal boundaries, and cultural respect. Each group was led by students from the sponsoring schools, ranging anywhere from 14 to 18 years old. In the category subgroups, the student facilitators led activities and discussions encompassing the varying aspects of racism, discrimination, and prejudice – many students shared both their observations and personal experiences regarding the issues.
Sharing personal experiences allowed students to feel like they were less alone and gave them a platform to speak up. This format allowed any student to come forward and stand up for themselves and for others who have experienced different forms of discrimination. Such was the freedom of the forum, that the stories were engagingly honest, the tellers sparing no details. The audience for these testimonies often clapped and cheered, affirming that they may have had similar experiences. It was powerful to witness and even more powerful to experience first-hand. By the end of the summit, there were some new friendships and many more connections that had been made. All participants had a much greater understanding of how minorities and students of color often feel silenced, marginalized, and misrepresented.
Bringing that understanding and those experiences back to Rush-Henrietta, the question for these students, and past participants, is “What now?” How does this school community address racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, or other hateful prejudices and the biases that create them? The first step will be a “small summit” here that brings together Rush-Henrietta’s past ROC2Change attendees to discuss how they can become effective agents of change in this community.
If you are a current junior or sophomore and are interested in becoming involved with ROC2Change, contact Mr. Nash or visit the ROC2Change website.
