Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) announced in a press release it will host a schoolwide event called “Day of Dialogue: A Social Justice Conference” on Friday, June 10, from 7:40 am to 2 pm. The conference will take place during the school day, and will “give students the opportunity to hear from a wide variety of Island community activists regarding important social justice topics,” according to the release.
“We wanted to create some sort of event, an all-school event, that really highlighted how diverse and inspiring the larger Martha’s Vineyard community is, and wanted to get as many community members into the building to talk to students about things they’re passionate about, particularly focusing on social justice issues,” MVRHS social studies teacher Ena Thulin told The Times.
Thulin said there is a group of adults trained in diversity and equity issues, which she said “has become more common over the past couple of years.” She also taught a new course this year called the social justice workshop, and a group of students from the class have helped to set up the conference.
“We have this group of students who’ve been working on advertising, planning the day, communicating with the community members who are coming in,” Thulin said.
Keynote addresses will be given by Wampanoag elder David Vanderhoop and Kyle Williams, chief empowerment officer of the anti-racism program A Long Talk. Thulin said Vanderhoop will speak about land acknowledgement, and Williams will talk about “his passion to eradicate racism.” The speeches will be followed by two rounds of workshops “offered by more than 40 Island-based thought leaders” on a variety of topics, such as culture and art appreciation, LGBTQ issues, environmental justice, and equity for minority communities. Vanderhoop and Williams will also be running their own workshops during the day.
“There’s so much knowledge on the Island. There are so many people on the Island passionate about subjects,” Thulin said.
Students will be limited to two workshops because of space. MVRHS freshman Sania Magaraci, who plans to take a workshop on American Sign Language, appreciated the level of freedom given to students to pursue what piqued their interest. “I’m really looking forward to understanding and learning new things I never knew before,” she said.
After these workshops, students will get to lead open-mic presentations at the Performing Arts Center, reading poems, singing songs, and other performances that relate to their identities and place at school and in the world. The day will conclude after lunch with live drumming at the sports field and a unified basketball event with a championship celebration.
According to the release, this event is not open to the general public. The schedule for the day and a full list of discussion topics can be found at bit.ly/3t7mdRj.
