By Henry Sandoval
The Student Equity Forum was created in order to give a voice to the young students of Redwood on issues dealing with inequality in the school system.
Neftaly Gonzales, ‘21, Jacqueline Canchola-Martinez, ‘21, and Activities Director Mrs. Aston are working hard to give students an opportunity to let the school board and everyone else hear their voice.
The Equity Forum itself is meant to provide a safe space for VUSD students of all race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, education level, immigration status, or financial status to discuss issues they face and situations they have witnessed on campus.
They then are able to bring these to the attention of the school board and address these issues. It is giving many students a platform to express how they feel or ask for support on a community and school level. Just by having the forum up and open for kids to participate in, is a huge step towards student equity.
Changes have already been made due to the equity forum. According to Gonzales, district faculty, teachers, staff, and a select students have begun a year long Cultural Proficiency program that focuses on implicit bias and cultural awareness training.
The Redwood Equity Forum makes sure that any issues that the students discuss are accounted for, however it is up to the students to decide which issues should be addressed first.
Gonzales also states, “I thought it would be best to expand this space for students at all high school campuses. This allows for more student participation, inclusiveness, and more accurate feedback from recent events that might occur individuality on each campus.”
Overall the student equity forum is a necessary part of VUSD’s foundation to be great because if there is no communication between us and the school/teachers than students will not be able to truly express problems they feel need to be fixed or if they need help and not having a safe space to talk will lead to more inequities between students at all schools in the VUSD.
Tags: clubs and lifestyles, equity forum