One year and still believin'
Despite a heavily cynical audience and no foundation to build upon, I led a team of three in making equity lessons that would teach and foster thought-provoking discussions among the student body about complex social issues and biases.
After a lot of collaboration with staff and faculty, long discussion sessions, and countless discarded lesson drafts, my team and I released five equity lessons and taught them in every classroom on campus, receiving huge recognition from the community and helping Campolindo become a better place.
Instead of presenting these issues as broad, intangible concepts in society, we effectively narrowed them down to instances in our daily lives, on campus, and in our community to make them more relatable and comprehensive for the student body.
Racism
This lesson explored the facets of racism—both covert and overt—and directly addressed campus culture with regards to this sensitive topic. Due to its enormous success, it was adopted by the school district and implemented in other high schools as well.
Ableism
This lesson explored the meaning of ableism and how it manifested itself in our daily lives. It was eventually adopted by the SEEDS organization, a nonprofit that advocates for children with intellectual disabilities.
LBGTQ+ Culture
This equity lesson understood and analyzed LGBTQ+ culture specifically at Campolindo to make it more engaging and relatable for the student body.
Global Awareness
This equity lesson explored themes of religious discrimination in the media and in our everyday lives. It taught students about the different kinds of religions in the world and explored the impact religion has had in modern society.
Microaggressions
This equity lesson discussed what microaggressions are, how to identify them, and how to avoid them. It also asked in-depth questions about microaggressions in our daily lives and on campus.