[ Music ]
One of the founding principles of MSAN is that students
will always guide our work. We conduct research, we network,
and we do professional development and training.
The whole purpose of this conference is to support our students
in bringing back action plans for change in their districts.
- It’s a – really a fantastic opportunity for kids from all over the country –
our minority scholars to get together and exchange ideas and be motivated for
positive change that they can do when they get back to their home districts.
- This is about listening to your students. I mean, they experience our schools
every day in ways that the adults don’t, the teachers don’t, the administrators
don’t, the superintendent doesn’t, the parents don’t.
I mean, this is – this is our customer is our students.
- We realize that, within our system, there are some structural barriers
that are in place that impede success for all of our students.
So we’re really committed to examining all of our practices and looking at
achievement gaps, opportunity gaps, and getting student voice infused into that.
Because, a lot of times, we as adults make decisions
that affect the students, and we realize that we need their input.
[group chanting and singing]
[applause]
- It starts with that first step because we may feel comfortable
in our little Verona spots and say, oh, everything’s all good.
But no, it’s not, and we’re making the effort.
It always starts with effort and defining our problems.
- When you’re with the other kids, you are aiming to have deep discussions
about what are the issues that go on at your school that are holding, maybe,
minority students back from being as successful as their peers.
- The value of having all these different perspectives, like black, Asian, Latino –
white, even – but it’s because each group deals with their own problems.
- So the challenge as you go into your action planning is to think about trying
to really understand the processes. The decisions that are made –
how and why decisions are made in your school that then produce
the disparities and the outcomes that we want to address.
- We work to fix the achievement gap within our schools and make sure
that the minorities and non-minorities, actually, are working well together
and working well to succeed within their school.
- There’s, like, three different parts. There’s exposing the roots that
create these racial inequalities. Then there’s embracing the roots
of who you are. And then empowering yourself to make change.
- At the end of the day, one of the takeaways you want
is to have the discussion with other kids, learn about other perspectives,
and also learn about what’s working at their school –
maybe something that they’ve done that your school hasn’t tried,
and you know that that would work for your school.
- If you look at the student action plans, if you look at the school level
and at the district level, many of our districts are closing gaps.
They’re changing belief systems. They’re engaging in different practices.
Teachers are teaching differently.
- I am so pleased to announce that, in the last two years, we have more than
tripled the number of underrepresented students in our AP courses.
And that’s just a monumental move in a short amount of time.
And again, if I were to pinpoint one thing that has really created
that energy around that action, it’s been our students and
their voicing their need for more rigor in their coursework.
- I am very proud to be part of this organization
and help diminish that achievement gap.
- It is an amazing experience, and there is actually a lot of things
that get done here. A lot of things that actually, like,
happen, and people take back to their schools and actually create change there.
- It was really beautiful to see us, like, come together, first time meeting
each other, and then coming up with these ideas and solutions.
- I feel like if we implement a lot of the stuff we’re learning in this conference –
the MSAN conference – also into the community –
like, creating an action plan, not just for the school, but for each community,
and more specifically, like Verona, then, I mean,
things could happen twice as fast. Because the community is the school.
The school – everyone who goes to the school is part of the community.
So, once the community starts seeing this change and starts –
okay, start accepting it, that’s going to influence the school more.
[ Music ]