On January 31, the student focus group that addresses acceptance and awareness met during PREP to discuss how to improve acceptance in school.

During the meeting, a number of ideas were formulated on how to shed light on the daily struggles of students and what makes them unique as Lancers. These personal matters vary from gender, race, socioeconomic status, and other factors. One of the topics that the group covered is that diversity doesn’t simply end with physical features, whether it’s just race of gender. There are other types of diversity that are vary from political beliefs, religious beliefs, opinions, or even academic backgrounds.

“I think that diversity is important because it provides us with a bunch of viewpoints and different though processes. It’s important to accept everyone at school because everyone that comes from different backgrounds can contribute to society and school discussions,” said group member senior Joe Russo.

“I think it’s important to address society because it’s 2018, and as a changing country that accepts people of all backgrounds. We should accept everyone who comes here. It’s very important for us to have this focus group, especially at Linganore, since we aren’t a very diverse school. We have to be the ones to start and speak up to those who aren’t accepting to others,” said senior Drew Twillman.

“School is a place where kids from all different backgrounds come, and as a parent and an educator, I expect it to be a safe place for my kids and for all students. I recognize that I can’t change what someone is taught at home, but we can show that in places such as schools and workplaces, that we’re all just people,” said Student Services staff member, Ilana Blum.

This was the second formal meeting.  The group expressed the desire to meet more often.