Day 154 - IDEAS Conference Students Make Positive Change Through Humans of BHS

This post first appeared on Ms. Chang's Blog 



In December a group of nine students attended the IDEAS Conference.

Initiatives for Developing Equity and Achievement for Students (IDEAS), a program of EDCO, facilitated a Student Leadership Conference for  11th, and 12th-grade students from member high schools. The purpose of the conference was to engage students from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds in conversations on issues of racism, intolerance, discrimination, and allied behavior.



GOALS OF CONFERENCE:
To provide students with the opportunity to learn from each other and build community within and across racial/ethnic groups

To recognize different forms of discrimination and racism in our schools and society

To recognize and challenge stereotypes

To explore and understand the many aspects of identity

To provide the opportunity for students to have affinity group conversations

To recognize the importance of advocacy and being an ally for others

To be able to inform districts about how students from different racial/ethnic groups perceive their school experience



The following students participated in the conference: 

Nimisha Thakkar, Jason Wu, Riya Kamani, Akhila John, Colin Nguyen, Arya Nagraj, Stavan Shah, Luis Villalta and Aida Gachago

After participating in the conference the students were challenged to head back to their school to make change!

The Students worked with the previously created Humans of BHS club to continue and build upon their mission of supporting diversity in their school.

The students in Humans of BHS worked on the following collaborative projects this year:

1. Humans of BHS Foreign Language Mission Statement
Students are going to recite the BHS Mission Statement in a wide variety of foreign languages at the beginning of the school day.

2. Interfaith Panel Diversity Stories
​Students recorded themselves expressing different encounters they have had, good/bad, regarding their religion/belief system. This will become part of Interfaith Panel for the BPS educators Professional Development.

3. Weekly Peer Interviews 
Students interview students/faculty about any encounters, questions, opinions, or experiences they have had

4.Instagram: humansofburlma - Students created an Instagram account to showcase the diversity at BHS

Day 173 - Congratulations to the BHS Tenacity Challenge Team

This post first appeared on Ms. Chang's blog

Congratulations to the wonderful students who participated in the 2017 Tenacity Challenge held at Bedford High School.
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Pictured left to right:
Luis Villalta, Martello Cesar, Angela Camacho-DeSousa, Amelia Murphy, Souleiman Benhida, State Rep. Russell Holmes, Benjamin Ramirez, Kenan Wilson, Ranya Paul, Nshuti Cindy Niyonzima, Dylan Lechner, Alexx Francois, Druper Kayondo, Gianni Newman, Khyle Pena 

Not included in the picture but also on competed in the challenge:
Julian Lechner, Britney Jean-Baptiste, Rebecca Wilson

The Tenacity Challenge competition consisted of four events centered around the theme of tenacity and leadership. 

• Science and Math Quiz Bowl Challenge (Physics, Chemistry, Algebra I, Geometry)
• Latino and African-American Literature Response Challenge (Filmed Performance of a Creative Response, Accompanied by a Rationale)
• History Argument Challenge (Team will research and argue a position before a panel of judges)
• Tenacity Mural Challenge- artistic creation completed prior to the competition date and displayed at the competition.

The students worked hard preparing for the competition (see pictures below) and spent their Saturday at the event competing in the four areas. This year we sent three teams of students (our largest group!) Burlington was well represented by this talented and bright group of students! For many members of this team, it was their third year participating in the event.

Team Creative Minds of Burlington won second place in the Math and Science Quiz bowl!

 

Special Thanks to State Representative Russell Holmes, State Representative Jeffrey Sanchez and Austin Ashe Assistant Director of Student and Alumni Relations - MIT and UMass Boston Adjunct Professor on Hip Hop Pedagogy and Cultural Values, who graciously spent time with the students in preparation for their History Challenge.

Photos by Photographer Michael Albert

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