BSM students and faculty had the opportunity to travel to St. Louis, Missouri, two weeks ago to participate in various academic conferences. Six students attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference and 11 faculty members attended the People of Color Conference. The group left on Tuesday, November 28th and participated in meetings each day before returning to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Saturday, December 2nd.
Faculty also had the opportunity to learn new skills that pertained to diversity and inclusion. From 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., teachers participated in small groups, large groups, and workshops that related to their pedagogical and leadership practices at BSM. Dennis Draughn, BSM’s equality, inclusion, and belonging director, learned new tools he is excited to bring back to BSM. “I learned better ways to support students and better ways to engage in their social and emotional learning,” Draughn said.
BSM sees this field trip as a major step in its quest to improve student and faculty support. If students applied, they had the opportunity to be a part of the Student Diversity Leadership Council at BSM. Students participated in workshops that taught them new ideas that will help support the whole student body. They talked about being leaders and emphasizing inclusion and diversity within the school. For the students, the hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and included leadership classes and individual and group meetings. All students who attended are current juniors who are hoping to lead their peers with the knowledge they learned on the trip. Junior Sophia Hoffman had many positive experiences during the five days in St. Louis. “We talked a lot about respectful dialogue, and I hope to bring that back to BSM to create a space where everyone says what they want without being worried about judgment,” Hoffman said.
We talked a lot about respectful dialogue, and I hope to bring that back to BSM to create a space where everyone says what they want without being worried about judgment.”
— Sophia Hoffman
This is BSM’s second year attending the conference. Draughn is hoping to continue to bring new students and faculty to the conferences in the following years. “There will be an application for students to apply this spring for next year in Denver, and then by doing so, there’ll be a part of the Student Diversity Leadership Council which is created through this conference,” Draughn said.