By Steve Mayer
On Feb. 19, students and faculty from every high school in Mercer County gathered at Rider University for a day-long symposium entitled Day of Dialogue 2016: A Journey into Race, Class and Gender in Our Schools.
Facilitated by the Center for Supportive Schools of Princeton, the day permitted students from area schools to listen to each other’s stories, connect to some of what makes us human and begin an important conversation about the underlying power of privilege and access.
The concept of organizing a countywide conversation with students stemmed from a roundtable meeting of Mercer County’s superintendents. On that day representatives of New York University challenged us with a presentation on disproportionality and the achievement gap. MCSA President and lead organizer Dr. Thomas Smith, superintendent of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, noted that the racial, ethnic and socio-economic diversity of Mercer County provides an uncommon opportunity for students of each district to participate in an educational experience that promotes conversation, awareness and action around issues of race, gender and class. We believe that the best way to promote positive change is to walk in the shoes of another in order to understand the unique perspective that our differences bring.
The keynote speaker, Eugene Marsh, shared his compelling personal journey with participants. A recent graduate of Rider University, Marsh described what it was like to brave South Carolina’s first desegregated high school in 1965. He told the story of having a cross burned on his front yard, graduating at the bottom of his high school class, serving in Vietnam and ultimately resolving to firmly adhere to a long path toward success.
“How did you muster the strength to keep going forward when everything seemed against you?” one student asked Marsh.
His response echoed an important and universal lesson: “I looked ahead at my future and knew that I was not going to let others define me. I knew there was a path forward as long as I kept walking.”
During a break following his presentation, students from around the county lined up for hugs and pictures with Marsh. Each was inspired by his resilience, resolve and fierce commitment to the belief that, in spite of any adversity he might encounter, he would ultimately prevail.
Throughout the day students and adults were challenged to find their own stories within the context of others. They began to understand on a deep level the power of “walking in another person’s shoes” and the importance of reflecting on our differences as a viable means to bring us closer together. At the end of the day, the Robbinsville contingent began to plan follow-up activities that will bring the conversation home to our community.
Observing high school students as they grow, watching as they open their eyes to privilege, the struggles of others and the understanding that we are stronger collectively than individually, moves me. Hope stirs within when I see students generate solutions to some of the intractable problems faced by our society.
I am quite certain that we will always have more work to do to make sure that all students gain access to a safe pathway to engaged citizenship, but helping our students see and sense how they can help is a good start.
Steve Mayer is the superintendent of Robbinsville Schools.
