Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Saratoga High School students (from left) Ray Williams, 14, Jennifer Baird, 14, and Grace Bae, 14, enjoyed foods from 12 countries during the lunch break at the high school's annual Diversity Day celebrating cultural differences.

Saratoga High students focus on different folks

By Cecily Barnes

On Columbus Day, Saratoga High School dismissed students to commemorate the discovery of America. But freshman and first-time sophomores were called in to learn about diversity, a lesson people have been learning since the discovery of the New World.

In collaboration with facilitators from the National Council of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), SHS staff offered a day of workshops that focused on breaking down stereotypes and teaching kids about prejudices.

"We want to have an intervention on negative stereotypes," said Tony Hayes of the NCCJ. "We want to help the ninth-grade class get exposed to diverse backgrounds and let them experience how we form opinions and stereotypes."

Various workshops were held throughout the day. In one activity, SHS students were shown pictures of people from various races and asked what their first reaction was. Facilitators helped point out how people unconsciously categorize others.

In another activity, all 300 students stood in the school's cafeteria and moved to various parts of the room depending upon their response to questions such as, "Do you have more than 50 books in your house?" and "Have your parents finished college?" After the exercise, facilitators explained that while people come from diverse backgrounds, they are similar in many ways.

"I think it's really opened the students up to be more aware and more open," said Betsy Stobbs from Green Circle, a program that promotes self-esteem, problem-solving and appreciation of human differences in the elementary schools.

But some of the students were not as positive as Stobbs.

"I felt uncomfortable," said Jennifer Baird. "The questions they asked were way too personal and none of their business."

Baird described the large group activity in the cafeteria as embarrassing. "For one of the questions I was the only one stepping back, and it was really embarrassing," Baird said.

But despite disappointments, there was a unanimous "hurrah" when kids stampeded from their classrooms to taste a feast of food from around the world. In the school's courtyard, tables arranged in a semicircle displayed diverse delicacies from Japan, Mexico, India, Armenia, Turkey, America, China, the British Isles, Germany, Korea, Israel and Italy.

"Plenty of time to eat, sports fans," Principal Kevin Skelly shouted over a group of zealous students rushing to grab paper plates.

Originally from England, parent Dorothy Moore brought champagne glasses filled with fresh raspberry trifle and whipped cream, a traditional British dessert. Parent Lynn Sprague supplied the American booth, serving peanut butter and jelly on Wonder bread. Parents also brought in stuffed grape leaves to represent Armenia and cheese turnovers for Turkey. But by far the most popular food of the day was at the Italian table, which served good old-fashioned pizza.

"This whole day of diversity, and they go for the pizza, the chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter and jelly," said parent Cindy Hartsfield.

Some kids were interested in what they were learning, others felt uncomfortable and some were just plain bored. But undeniably, it was a day when all the participants reconsidered what stereotypes and prejudices mean.