With Parkway South being the immensely diverse school that it is, several staff members, including Dr. Patrice Aitch, principal, and social studies teacher Amber Rice, felt it was important for students to learn about different kinds of people, which inspired them to create Diversity Day.

On Feb. 18, all South High students had the opportunity to attend up to four sessions throughout the day on topics such as race relations, world religions, gender identity, international foods, the autistic brain, Latin dance, and more.

“I went to gender identity and understanding the autistic mind,” said Shelby Wohlschlaeger, sophomore.  “Gender identity helped me understand people and mindsets I didn’t previously understand.  It made me more aware and sensitive of the pronouns and assumptions I make of other people and their gender.”

“South is a public high school, and public means public,” said Rice.  “So you may have a majority of students that fit a certain type but this day is really a reflection of what public looks like.  Public means for all.”

Aitch was in agreement with Rice.

“The sessions that we have are representative of the students that we have,” Aitch said.

Rice and Aitch collaborated with Jeanette Sipp-White and South’s diversity club, as well as Daryl Diggs, Tiffany Young, and Darcy Brady to plan the event.

“We tried to offer a wide variety of sessions,” said Rice.  “Teachers select sessions that help extend their curriculum, but students were allowed to select a session based on their own interests during Ac. Lab.”

“I didn’t get to participate in Diversity Day because my teachers all were too busy, but I was really upset. It sounded like an awesome event,” said sophomore Luke Bauer.

This was the first Diversity Day, but future days like this, possibly focused on other topics, could be in South’s future.

“We will get feedback and see how well it is received and decide from there,” said Aitch.

Many students seem excited about this possibility.

“I would be interested in more days like this in the future,” said freshman Curt Hooker.  “Diversity Day impacted the way I thought about other people by letting me see racism through the eyes of people who are most affected by it.”

“I saw the movie Selma and went to the World Foods Court,” said Hooker.  “My favorite part was seeing Selma because it really opened my eyes to how history is repeating itself with innocent people of color facing police brutality back then and now.  It helped me understand why the fight on racism is such a big deal.”

“We want to build not just a student that knows math and science, but one who can be empathetic and responsible to their community,” said Rice.  “The overall goal is to truly learn about and be enlightened to having the ability to think differently… To see the world through someone else’s eyes.  Not everybody is going to agree and that’s okay.”