As a black man growing up in Ohio, Effley Brooks can remember three teachers who impacted life as he knows it today.
One recognized the racism Brooks experienced at his mostly white school but never took action; another completely overlooked Brooks, making him feel unworthy and invisible; and the last saw Brooks’ pain and allowed him to share his thoughts, to open up and be vulnerable.
“Over the course of our lives we all have these opportunities over and over and over again,” Brooks said. “And we will make a difference — one way or another.”
Hosted by the school’s peer counselors, the day is meant to celebrate diversity of all sorts. In addition to the keynote speaker and some morning entertainment, there were a number of workshops on topics ranging from LGBTQ+ to women in corporations, sexual assault, mental health, art therapy, Native American talking sticks, religion and more.
In a school such as Conifer High School that isn’t all that visually diverse, it’s an opportunity for students to experience diversity in a new way and to learn and grow.
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