Gateway2change Student Summit on Race Returns!

On Tuesday, October 27 more than 330 high school students from 33 area high schools met again at Ritenour High School to continue their work on the “STL Student Summit on Race.” The theme of this first Gateway2change event of the 2015-16 school year is “Activating Hope” and student participants reflected on their values and self-perception.

Using design thinking, compassionate communication and “empathy and hope” interviews students worked together to increase their understanding of different perspectives on race and relationships. Students will use these acquired interviewing skills in the coming months as they solicit feedback from the greater St. Louis community.

As these students gain a greater understanding of different perspectives around regional diversity issues, they will begin transitioning their efforts into Change Agent Projects. These projects will help empower students as they work to actualize their potential as solution creators. Working with their Sibling School, students will use information gathered from the empathy and hope interviews to design their projects together.

The recently released Ferguson Report highlights the need for students to get involved in the national conversation about diversity and racial equity, something that these students began last year as part of the Student Summits on Race. Out of those efforts came the sibling school partnerships, community service efforts, community collaboration, and the Gateway2change movement.