Demand #7

Year summary: There was a dip in the number of meetings that this team held as the former adult team lead stepped away from running them. Mid-year, Mohamed Diop stepped in as adult co-lead and Eliza Willis stepped in as youth co-lead, and the team began meeting weekly, during the school day, so that more youth could attend.  The team is also refreshing their mission statement, and once that is ready, they intend to work with the school’s Advisory Coordinators to spread the word so other students and WSD staff members who might be interested can join. After pursuing some out-of-state experts, they have decided to reach out to someone local who could run the civil rights workshops and make them more youth-accessible.  With support from Bruce Wilson (member of VT’s Human Rights Commision) the team  has reached out to  representatives from the Vermont Human  Rights Commission.  

The team has been in touch with a member of the Vermont Human Rights Commision to deliver a presentation on Student Civil Rights at the school, sometime in May or June. They are continuing to hold weekly meetings during the school day so that youth can attend. 

The team has been meeting and working on relaunching their initiatives. Vermont Human Rights Commission committee member Bruce Wilson has offered to set up a presentation for the team about his work in Civil Rights. The goal of the team’s next meeting is to finalize their mission statement. Once that is ready, they intend to work with the school’s Advisory Coordinators to spread the word so other students and WSD staff members who might be interested can join. The team has begun meeting weekly! 

The team has not yet held their March meeting, but they are continuing to look for a local group who would make the Civil Rights workshops more accessible for youth and who can support the school in the long-term. They have potential leads with experts from St. Michael’s College and the City Clerk’s Office in Winooski. 

After exploring the potential last year for a representative from the Boston-based Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to deliver the workshops to students and families, the team is now looking for a local group that would make the workshops more accessible for youth and can support the school long-term. They have potential leads with experts from St. Michael’s College and the Winooski City Office. 

They’ve contacted different organizations like the Office of Civil Rights, ACLU, and Department of Justice. They either don’t have workshops geared toward youth or aren’t facilitating workshops in person. They are going to try contacting the Human Rights Commission and Rights and Democracy. They are hoping youth can vet the options to ensure that the presentations would be engaging for youth. 

The group is focusing on finding someone to come in annually to provide education around student civil rights (especially to our ML students).  They reached out to the U.S. Department of Education and Civil Rights and unfortunately their presentations are largely for more of an adult audience.  They are finding resources for all ages here at WSD.

Per the meeting they had in December with a representative from the DOJ, we got some recommendations for resources they could look to in order to speak about civil rights. They have a meeting set up with a representative from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Boston Office.

They are working on recruiting youth and community members of color. 

This Action Demand Group attended an orientation by the Antiracism Steering Committee on Oct. 4, 2021.