Students from ASL collaborated with Westminster Academy to form a social justice conference called youngPOWER, which will take place March 6. This conference includes eight schools and allows High School students to interact with other teenagers from around London about topics they’re passionate about, specifically human rights and social justice.
There is a leadership team for youngPOWER made up of High School students in Grade 12. They have been meeting with students from Westminster Academy, where the conference will be held, to organize and plan how the day will be laid out.
The day includes many guest speakers such as knife crime activists Temi Mwale and Shanea Oldham as well as LGBTQIA+ activist Tanya Compas, discussion groups and workshops. Several Grade 10-12 students are going, including Sara Fakhry (’22), who is excited to hear different perspectives and expand her knowledge on social justice.
“I’m looking forward to hearing different perspectives of kids who have a variety of different backgrounds to broaden my perspective on different social justice topics,” she said.
Those going have been to meetings to prepare for youngPOWER and gain information on the day. They have learned about the theme for this year’s conference, healing our community, which Director of Community Action Brandon Block, who helped organize the event, said that he hopes will tighten our community and form a greater relationship with people of different backgrounds and experiences.
“The theme for this year’s conference is healing our community, which is going to cover and take in all the different visions within our community where we’ve lost a sense of trust and connection with each other and hopefully allow us to talk about these issues,” Block said.
