Sign up is open until March 25 for the Being Racially Aware and Valuing Ethnicity conference that will be held in school on April 5. Registered students in grades 6-12 will attend three core workshops, a choice workshop and assemblies with the goal of honoring the Laboratory Schools’ mission for diversity.
BRAVE is a student-led program brought to Lab in 2018 by a group of students who attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference and returned wanting to create a version specifically for Lab.
BRAVE board co-president Santana Romero has been on the board since ninth grade after attending the conference in eighth grade.
Santana said, “I went when I was in eighth grade and so then when I came into high school I was, like, I really, really want to do this, and so then freshman year I got accepted and now I’m co-president!”
What makes the conference such a valuable experience is that, unlike other DEI programs, Santana said, this one is full of students who actively chose to attend, creating an enthusiastic environment.
“It’s people who want to be talking about these issues. It’s people who want to be engaging with these themes and be engaging with other students and genuinely have a curiosity about learning more about themselves and others,” Santana said.
Due to the growing number of students interested in participating, the form to sign up now includes a short-answer section about involvement in DEI activities along with whether a student has been to the conference before, Santana said.
For students in grades 9-11 who attend the conference, the absence is counted like a school field trip, and for seniors it does not impact their attendance threshold at all.
Although planning the conference is high commitment, Santana loves getting to collaborate with students of all ages, she said.
“Everyone on the board really wants to be making the conference and is really excited about making the conference, so it’s great to be collaborating with people who are so passionate,” Santana said.
