After Thanksgiving Break, six Germantown Academy students and four faculty members traveled to Anaheim, California to participate in the 30th annual National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) People of Color and Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Anthony Hu '20, Elijah Wroten '19, Avery Samuels '19, Aman Gil '19, Caroline Paik '20, Destiny Mayfield '20, Middle School Physical Education/Health & Wellness Teacher Misha Horsey, Middle School History Teacher Aisha Dawe, Upper School Science Teacher Nina Butler-Roberts, and Lower School Literacy Specialist/Diversity & Community Life Coordinator Sharifa Kelly represented GA at this popular and inspiring yearly conference.

Over the course of three days, students participated in workshops that focused on peer community building activities and intensive self-reflective activities that helped them explore their personal cultural identifiers and examine how diversity and multiculturalism is treated in their respective independent school communities. The conference reported having 1,600 students and more than double that amount of educators in attendance. The adults who attended the conference participated in various workshops that explored topics such as: Anti-Racist Teaching, Equity & Justice Curriculum Development, Racial and Social Justice Activism, Self-Efficacy and Self-Care, and Institutional Leadership & Management for Equity. Students, as part of their experience, collaboratively crafted and shared an action plan that will later be presented to the Upper school faculty and administration with the hope of further strengthening the GA community.