“I loved seeing the beautiful and intricate architecture in London and Paris.”

“My mom and I were big fans of Monet’s and Renoir’s art growing up, so it was amazing to see their original pieces in person.”

Science teacher Mark Brassey in Costa Rica

“We went to one place called Nosara, which is on the Pacific coast. It was about 100 kilometers from the airport, but it took us four hours to drive there (because) the roads were pretty bad. We had to cross rivers in the Jeep we had and we were in (a) four-wheel drive a lot of the time, so it was a pretty remote (area). But when we got there, it had a really distinct local culture.”

“(There was a) very slow lifestyle. No one was in a hurry to do anything, so it was very calming.”

Sophomore Roy Lao in Beaverton, Oregon

Lao went to Oregon for a diving competition with the Santa Clara Diving Club

“(The Tillamook Cheese Factory) was really cool … there were these big windows where you could see them making cheese.”

“We went to a big rose garden. It was huge and just all color. It smelled nice and there were really fat squirrels. They were not scared (of us) — they just sat there eating, (which was) really funny.”

Senior Chania Rene-Corail in New Haven, Connecticut

Rene-Corail participated in the Young Global Scholars program at Yale University

“(The highlight) was definitely being able to live on campus. The school is really gorgeous. I didn’t expect it to be that nice.”

“I was in a specific program about international relations, and we had some group projects where we tried to solve one main global challenge. Other than that, we also had something called ‘family time,’ which was meant to help us meet more people in the program.”

Junior Olivia Lu in Japan and Korea

“I went to this deer park in Nara, Japan, and we got to feed them. I also went to a mountain where you would climb all the way to the top. There was a monkey park there too, so I got to play with the monkeys. There were a lot of cute animals everywhere.”

“Japan was one of my favorite trips, but something I would have liked to do more is going to more smaller towns and explore the culture there instead of going shopping.”

P.E teacher Amy Anderson in St. Lucia

“A lot of people on the island could not swim… And so the women that worked (at the villa) brought their children and grandchildren, and one of the women actually got in the pool with us too. We taught her, her two girls and a couple of the other family members of one of the other women (to swim and be water-safe).”

“This (vacation) was very restorative. My body felt good because we were so active and my heart felt full because I was with my friends. My mind felt very clear and very present, and it was wonderful to get to know a different culture.”

]]> https://gunnoracle.com/25050/uncategorized/students-staff-travel-worldwide-during-summer/feed/ 0 https://gunnoracle.com/23835/uncategorized/campus-organizations-host-black-history-month-events-promote-african-american-achievements/ https://gunnoracle.com/23835/uncategorized/campus-organizations-host-black-history-month-events-promote-african-american-achievements/#respond Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:42:29 +0000 https://gunnoracle.com/?p=23835 The Student Executive Council (SEC) and Student Equity Committee are hosting a variety of Black History Month events to teach students and staff more about Black history and culture.

Black History Month celebrates the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans throughout United States (U.S.) history. According to the Library of Congress, it began as Black History Week in 1926 and was created by African American historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He chose for it to land in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two figures who played significant roles in African American equality. On Feb. 10, 1976, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month in a speech. “We can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history,” he said.

On Feb. 8, SEC hosted a speaker panel featuring Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Student Affairs Yolanda Conaway and Black Culture Club co-Presidents juniors Angelina Rosh and Lise Desveaux, who is also a Centerfold Editor for The Oracle. The panel was moderated by co-Diversity Commissioner junior Chania Rene-Corail. Future events this month will include trivia games with prizes, an event hosted in collaboration with Black Culture Club and a film festival presenting award-winning films of Black stories.

Rene-Corail is helping to organize this month’s events. “The Black community at Gunn isn’t celebrated all that much,” she said. “I know that in previous years, there weren’t many Black students on SEC or at least in positions to lead diversity events. I wanted to organize something really nice because I haven’t seen it in the past.”

Rene-Corail hopes that people will not only learn about African American history, but also everything that Black culture has tooffer today. “I think that when people hear the words ‘Black history,’ they think of slavery and the civil rights movement,” she said. “In my experience, our culture is so much more than just that. Those aspects of Black history should be highlighted, but I also wanted to highlight the nice parts of it, like the amazing artists we have.”

Rosh views the events as a way to celebrate Black voices. “We want to showcase Black culture in its most authentic form,” she said. “Many people don’t acknowledge that Black History Month is also celebrating culture and identity. We want to show different aspects like pop culture and different cultural practices such as stepping, a dance routine that the Black community takes part in.”

Throughout the month, the Student Equity Committee has been posting weekly infographics on their Instagram page, featuring prominent Black Americans that have impacted society.

Student Equity Committee co-leader senior Madison Yue, who is also a Features Editor for The Oracle, hopes the posts can be a way for students to learn more about Black history. “If people want to get started learning about Black History Month, I would encourage them to look at our Student Equity Instagram,” she said. “It’s a great starting point for educating yourself on prominent Black figures who have contributed to U.S. history.”

Ultimately, Rosh hopes that this month’s events will bring more representation to the Black community. “Gunn has a student body willing to celebrate all cultures,” she said. “It’s important that we don’t leave out this community.”

The new course, dedicated entirely to the study of African Americans, comes at a time of ongoing nationwide debate surrounding how race should be taught in classrooms. While some states such as California are seeking to expand discussions about race by implementing a new ethnic studies requirement, 36 states have introduced legislative efforts to restrict education on race, gender and American history as of Aug. 2022, according to the nonprofit organization Poets, Essayists and Novelists (PEN) America. Diversity Commissioner junior Chania Rene-Corail believes discussion about race is necessary, given recent controversies over its role in education. “Race has been impacting people for centuries now,” she said. “A lot of people have been negatively impacted by it and the concepts we associate with race—to just ignore it now would be much more harmful than talking about it. As someone who is from a minority group and has had trouble finding representation in history classes in the past, it’s extremely important to be able to know about your past and know about why people treat your community the way they do.”

Social studies teacher Arthur Kinyanjui also believes it is important to know about African American history and supports the new course. “Most of the western civilization, starting with the Industrial Revolution, was based on the backs of African Americans,” he said. “If we look at the experiences [African Americans] have gone through, the reality they face today and the perspectives of those that hold power, we can clearly see that they’re not in alignment. If you’re going to have a more equitable, just society, we need to understand what their hopes, dreams and grievances are.”

Kinyanjui also hopes the course will increase respect for all minority groups, not just for African Americans. “The more we know, the more caring and empathetic we become about those around us,” he said. “Most of the time, discrimination and other kinds of mistreatment are based on fear, and most of this fear comes from people not having enough information.”

Black Culture Club President junior Angelina Rosh hopes that the course will focus more on current issues, rather than historical perspectives. “Though we need to start learning more about African American history, specifically at our school, it’s not [only] about recognizing African American history or the struggles, but [also] recognizing how we interact with the community today,” she said. “I would really like there to be a constant focus on relevant issues and how this history has affected us now. There’s no point in learning about history if we don’t see how it’s directly affecting what we see in the world today. Not only will this make us more socially aware, but it would also help eliminate the issues we see on campus.”

However, due to concerns regarding enrollment, there is no current plan to offer AP African American Studies at Gunn. Rather, Social Studies Instructional Lead Jeff Patrick encourages students who are interested in African American history to enroll in AP Human Geography or Ethnic Studies classes instead. “If students are interested in the topic, our AP Human Geography class provides some of the same analytical skills,” he said. “[Also,] our current Ethnic Studies class, which we’re running for the first time this year, would love to see more students in it. [AP Human Geography] is designed to be a more interdisciplinary class than a U.S. History or economics course, which seems to be the direction that higher education is moving toward in terms of providing students with a wide range of skills in which to tackle big problems.”

Diversity Commissioner sophomore Sophia Howell helped organize the event. “The purpose of the event was to look at mental health intersectionality and the barriers many BIPOC faces in accessing mental health,” she said. “Having panels like this and having these discussions really helps to lessen these barriers and increase knowledge on how to go about accessing mental health care and what that entails.”

After the panel was almost canceled due to complications with Flexisched, Howell is glad the event occurred. “I’m glad that so many people came to be informed on this topic, whether or not it relates to them personally, or through a community,” she said.

This month, Diversity Commissioner junior Chania Rene-Corail and the other Wellness and Diversity Commissioners have focused on highlighting mental health in communities of color. They also aimed to bring attention to the resources students have access to when seeking help in a system of disparity. “I think a really important thing about diversity is inclusivity and intersectionality,” Rene-Corail said. “I thought it would be very interesting to have some sort of campaign or education to talk to the student body about that type of intersectionality and how being a person of color affects that [mental health] aspect of your life.”

Sophomore Aarya Bhushan enjoyed that the event addressed the stigma surrounding mental health throughout different cultures. “Every culture has its own stigma and even though a lot of the panelists come from different cultures and backgrounds, they were still able to relate to the fact that there is a barrier between asking for help,” she said. “I think that will help us as students overcome that with our families and our cultures.” Bhushan also found the event helpful in supplying resources for students’ mental health. “I got to know about resources that are offered at Gunn that I didn’t know about before and I think [the panelists] presented themselves as people that I can go up to if I need any help with anything,” she said.