Since 2022, the LNSU Equity Design Team at Lamoille MS and HS has worked to bring together youth and adults to explore and address educational inequities that impact students’ experiences at school. Through a multi-year survey process, the team has created a compelling data set which has served to direct their work and to deepen others’ understanding of the ways that students’ identities influence their school experience.  

The LNSU Equity Design Team had prioritized 4 action working groups this year. They are advocating and facilitating a BIPOC affinity space, advocating for learning/teaching styles to be outlined in course offerings, facilitating a social justice activity for all students in middle school, and looking closely at behavior and restorative practices at Lamoille MS/HS.  They also led a teacher inservice for the district on March 27 where they shared their climate survey data and modeled their social justice activity for teachers.  This group will also lead a workshop at UP’s Power2 Summit on May 5.

LNSU Equity Design Team Reflections from Youth:

  • We are actually making the changes we want to SEE – they are happening around us and our vision is being realized.
  • I think it is super amazing to see all the work we’re doing. Even though I’m a freshman and have only been doing this for a year, I can see the difference we’re making. It is super important that we keep doing this. 
  • I also really like the teacher staff meetings and being able to lead and facilitate things on my own.
  • I’d say that it is nice to see something so small turn into something bigger. It is nice to be a part of something like this. I’ve been called slurs and have had other stuff happen throughout my time in school and it is nice to see that we are making change and making things better. 
  • It is rewarding when you can see this work in action and when you make those connections – talking to elementary schoolers and seeing them in the places that you once were – you can be the person you needed at that time.
  • Read a youth reflection from 2024!

 

Since 2024, all 5 Elementary Schools in the LSNU district have participated in Personal Power and Community Connections (P2C2) with representative youth-adult teams  engaged in a similar process of data collection and analysis to support youth voice and positive change in each of the district’s elementary schools. These teams have met three times as a district wide group to analyze their climate survey data, build leadership, create connections across schools, and action plan for change! These retreats are co-designed and co-facilitated by MS/HS members of the LNSU Equity Design Team. The P2C2 teams are also having in-school retreats over the course of the spring to actualize their action plans and share their climate survey data back with teachers and students at their school. Some P2C2 teams have also facilitated activities for teachers at the March 27th inservice day! 

The momentum from LNSU’s Equity Design Team — amplified by their youth-led insights, district-wide P2C2 work, and upcoming Power2 Summit participation — shows how student voice + youth-adult partnership drives real, sustainable change. We celebrate their progress and invite the UP community to join, learn, and amplify these efforts as they continue turning data into action and vision into everyday reality.