By: Alex T. Smith
The Dayton Regional STEM School Community Alliance is a
school club that meets Fridays from 3:30 - 4:30PM in Mrs. McDaniel’s classroom.
The goal of Community Alliance to create a space of acceptance for all students
regardless of their culture, gender identity, race, interests, social class,
sexual orientation, religion, or personal beliefs. But at a school as diverse and accepting as
ours, is a club like this really necessary?
To find answers to this question, I decided to look into the
reasons why Community Alliance was founded in the first place. I met with Maggie
Moreda, the co-founder of Community Alliance. Maggie said, “I wanted to create
a safe space within our school community where people could come together and
learn from and support one another. We all need to feel safe to thrive both
socially and academically. Community alliance can be that safe space for
students. It brings us together as a high school."
Since the Dayton Regional STEM School already has a large
diversity within its student body, the reasons Maggie had for forming this club
also made sense. But is a club like this still necessary with the level of
acceptance there already is for the diversity in our school?
Maggie agreed that our school is generally more accepting
than other public and private schools, however she stated that it in no way
makes Community Alliance any less necessary, because there is always room for
improvement. Maggie notes that the proof of Community Alliance’s importance
stems from the positive changes that members have had. Maggie says that she has
seen the students involved in Community Alliance mature and become more
accepting since they first joined.
She said, “Students have worked together to create
presentations about topics that are important to them. Together we have
meaningful discussions where we learn about each other and create a better
understanding of the world around us. The real world is full of people with
different backgrounds, identities and experiences. I wanted a group that
focused on representing that. After all, the real world starts here.”
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| Community Alliance members posing after a meeting on chronic disabilities. |
To find out how students involved in Community Alliance feel
about this, I interviewed Fatima Boumachad, a member for two school years, to
tell me what she thought about her experiences with in the club. Here is what
she had to say: “I always look forward to attending this club because I know
that every time, there will be an awesome presentation on something new and I
get to become a part of a group discussion or activity that not only helps us
learn more, but also lets us be ourselves without worrying about other people’s
opinions.”
Just like Maggie, Fatima also notes that she and the other
members have been positively impacted by what they have learned from group
presentations.
Fatima said, “I have learned about various beliefs,
cultures, illnesses, and other aspects that define each person as an
individual. I also got the opportunity to learn about peoples' life stories. I
listened to people talk about the steps that they have taken in life to reach
the point that they are now.”
I followed up by asking her what she would miss most about
Community Alliance if it no longer was continued. She said, “Being a part of this club, I get the opportunity
to learn about so many different things that I would never have known about
otherwise. I feel that this is important because it offers me a chance to learn
more about others and I get to teach others about myself. Community Alliance is
one of my favorite clubs because of its welcoming environment and amazing
lessons. I’m so glad that I am a part of this club and look forward to any
future meetings.”
At the end of the interview I asked Fatima what her favorite
part of Community Alliance was. She said, “Community Alliance encourages people
to welcome everyone regardless of their differences, and I feel that if
everyone learns this aspect, the world would be a much better place.”
To the relief of members, Community Alliance has gotten off
to a great start over the last year, and with 15-20 regular attendees, it seems
that the club itself has no intention of going away anytime soon. To answer the
question of if Community Alliance is really necessary, at least to its members
the answer is a resounding yes.
Full
disclosure: Alex T. Smith is the co-president of the DRSS Community Alliance.
