FIRST PERSON REPORT
Day 1:
The SPA van picked us up around noon to take us to the airport. After months of planning, paperwork and meetings, the anticipation and excitement were palpable among the whole group. Once at the airport, we walked around a bit, which was nice because we had time to kill. We boarded our flight at 2:40 pm; the flight was around two hours and 30 minutes long. At the Washington-Reagan International Airport, we saw other groups of students who also seemed to be going to our conference. We were not sure at first, but then we saw them again at our hotel. After checking in and receiving our nametags and drawstring bags, we went to our rooms and returned to find a place for dinner. The highlight of the evening was eating dinner at SOCCi, an Italian restaurant at our hotel, because it also doubled as Dr. Taylor’s birthday celebration.
Naomi Taylor and Alexis Irish were our advisors for the trip. They both work in the Office of Intercultural Life at SPA, with Irish as the Intercultural Life Program Specialist and Taylor as the Director of Intercultural Life. We initially applied to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference but did not get in, so this conference was the backup. After great conversations, good food, pictures, and a beautiful-ish rendition of “Happy Birthday,” we returned to our hotel rooms to unpack, unwind, and get ready for an incredibly eventful two days.
Day 2:
We got the early package for the conference, so in addition to arriving a day early, we also got to go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) before the conference started. On the bus ride there, I admired the architecture of the city. The museum had quite an interesting design that was both artful and modern. It is the newest addition to the Smithsonian Institute, finished in 2016 and directly adjacent to the Washington Monument. After taking photos, we went inside. The museum is designed to make visitors start from the basement with history and work their way up to the top floors, with exhibits on modern-day history and African American culture. The most memorable and impactful part of the museum for me was the Emmett Till memorial, dedicated to the boy whose murder galvanized activists of the Civil Rights Movement.
After about an hour and a half of roaming around the museum, we all met again to get back to the Hyatt Regency, the hotel across the street from ours, where all of the summit’s activities would be taking place. Upon arrival, we were offered lunch and an introduction to the program. This is also where we were split from Dr. Taylor and Ms. Irish because they were to attend a separate orientation specifically for educators. The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) merged with the Close Up Foundation to create the current NAIS Student Civic Leadership Summit. The conference’s goal was to bring together high school students across the country to identify and deepen understanding of national issues and make a plan to address those issues in our communities. 78 schools from across 30 different states attended the conference. In preparation for the conference, each school cohort had to decide which issue to focus on during the summit, choosing between climate, poverty, civic engagement and mental health. We chose to focus on poverty as the issue to address in our community because it is not as talked about as the other issues, especially in a private school where most people are financially stable. After the orientation, we were divided into workshops and paired with other school cohorts who chose the same issue as us. In our workshop specifically, there were students from California, Tennessee, Massachusetts
and D.C. Our advisor for the workshop, Collin, walked us through the guidelines and expectations for the week. Our main goal for the opening workshop was to get to know each other, examine a challenge in our local community and consider solutions to that problem.
After the workshop, we boarded the bus for an outdoor tour of Georgetown University. The buildings were beautiful and quite old. Collin gave us an overview of the history of some of the buildings, and we walked around the campus and took pictures. By then, we had broken the ice with most of the group and exchanged laughs and Instagram accounts. The tour ended in the Gaston Auditorium with keynote speaker Eleanor Daugherty, VP of Student Life at Georgetown University. Daugherty spoke about how, as future leaders, it is important to learn how to disagree and have a mindset of learning from other people rather than always trying to be right all the time. She also emphasized the importance of having a whole personality and balancing success with being a normal person in such a competitive society. She gave a powerful example of determining which values are most important to an individual. A friend of hers was part of the effort to send 100 aid trucks into Gaza, and of the 100, only three got through. She recalled telling her friend that she was so sorry that they could not accomplish their goal, to which her friend responded that three trucks did go through. She pushed us to think of our own three trucks, the three most important things to us. After that, we were shuttled off to the Pentagon City Mall for dinner and returned to the same Independence Hall, where orientation was in the morning for another activity. The day ended around 9:30, and we returned to our hotel rooms completely exhausted.
Day 3:
We started the day in our workshop groups, discussing different policies and solutions proposed to address poverty. We discussed the pros and cons of raising the federal minimum wage, more funding for child and elder care programs, and tuition-free higher education. After the morning workshop, we were shipped off to Eastern Market for lunch and the Navy Memorial for the Community Engagement Seminar. The panel included Daryl Wright, Liz Wolfe, George Johnson and Andrew Hall. They spoke about their experience combating poverty, referring to it as fighting a multifront war. Afterward, they opened it up to student questions, many of which were very thought-provoking. The speakers inspired me with their passion and gave us many ideas for our own solutions. Afterwards, we had the second workshop of the day, during which we had to come up with our own plan to address poverty in our local community. This involved a lot of group discussion and research. Amid our discussion, we received a surprise visit from Dr. Taylor, Ms. Irish — and Dr. Ottley. He was also in D.C. for an alum event and had been told that we would also be here. After that, we went bowling, played in the arcade, and then went to sleep for the night.
Day 4:
We checked out of our rooms in the morning and at our breakfast before our final workshop session. In it, we finalized our plan and our presentation to discuss with our teachers and other groups. We plan to partner with preexisting soup kitchens in the Twin Cities and add a clothing room or a food pantry if they do not already have one. For that, we will need to host fundraisers to obtain the resources needed and reach out to the organizations that are interested. Afterward, we went down to the hall, sat at our tables and presented our plan to Dr. Taylor and Ms. Irish. They listened intently, asked questions and provided feedback on our plan. The presentations marked the end of the conference and many groups who had long flights started to head out. We saw a couple of people from our workshop at the airport. It was a very memorable experience. Not only did I meet kids from all over the nation, but like-minded people who want to use their privilege to make a difference in the world. It was also great spending time with the people in our group that I would not have otherwise gotten to know. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and ideas back to implement at SPA and in our local community.
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