The South student group s.t.a.r.t., Students Together as Allies for Racial Trust, is hoping to expand their outreach to more than just South High. S.t.a.r.t.’s goal for the future is to spread their philosophy of honoring diversity to other schools in the area through a series of workshops, which begin this October.

The hope for the programs is that they can lead to productive dialogue about race,” Kate Towle, the Co-Advisor of s.t.a.r.t. explained that the group has proposed seminars addressing the issue of truth telling.

“Denying youth the safety and right to truth tell, is a missing piece of the racial equity puzzle,” Towle said. “Denying this right gives students little incentive to bridge cultures and exhibit leadership.”

The workshops are geared towards community members, teachers, and students alike with an emphasis on the power that today’s youth hold on the future. They will be student led and focused around the youth participating in them.

“A lot of adults are used to being educated by adults. They are used to the adult voice being the right voice so when a students says something that is really right, it breaks down the barriers of adultism.” stated senior Lamia Abukhadra who is highly involved with the group.

S.t.a.r.t.  is holding these workshops in a variety of different places including a church, the YWCA, an overcoming racism conference, and other schools.

The three goals that s.t.a.r.t. has expressed to achieve with the seminars are, 1) to teach youth to be brave, 2) to create a safe place to talk about race, 3) to encourage civic and intercultural leadership.

S.t.a.r.t.  seeks to be a network in the South High Community not only a club and Towle reminds students, “Just because we are getting into the community doesn’t mean we have no more work to do at South.”