The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Office of Equity hosted their districtwide team of equity ambassadors at Forsyth Technical Community College on Thursday night to celebrate another year of good work improving equity in the district.
The equity ambassadors were first assembled in the 2023-24 school year to observe barriers to student success on their own campuses and communicate with the Office of Equity about their ideas of how to make things better. Teachers, administrators, coaches, school social workers, and more are part of the equity ambassador team. Chief Equity Officer Effie McMillian says that the program has seen great results in its first two years because of broad community buy-in.
“When we put it out there, it could have been that nobody would have said they were interested,” McMillian told the ambassadors. “But we had several people more than we could even accept or invite who were interested, so I really appreciate you for wanting to be a part of this.”
After opening performances from the Walkertown High School band and choir students from Meadowlark Elementary School, equity ambassadors shared some of the actions they took this year. Their stories included starting gardens where students could grow their own food, expanding classroom libraries to feature more diverse authors and characters, developing modified curriculum to meet the needs of ESL students, and inviting more community members into classrooms to share their lived experiences.
Partnerships with local leaders, businesses, and civic organizations proved valuable in creating more engaging equity initiatives. The ambassadors emphasized the need to get as many people involved as possible to make sure every student feels seen, heard, and valued in their education.
“It takes a village, and we have a village, but we have to reach out to our resources,” said Jennifer Reasoner, a third grade teacher and an equity ambassador for Morgan Elementary School. “You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you reach out how the community wants to support you, but you have to ask.”
The keynote speaker for the evening was Dee Todd, a hall of fame athlete at Winston-Salem State University and a former commissioner of the ACC. As a Black woman, Todd says she spent most of her career being the first and only person who looked like her in any given position, and she often faced disproportionate barriers and expectations. She achieved great success despite those challenges, but she hopes to see the next generation face fewer of them.
“Seen, Heard, and Valued” was the theme of the night, and Todd said it was essential to keep those assets at front of mind in schools. The potential for greatness is in every student, as well as every educator, and both the individual and the community are better off when everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve that greatness.
“It’s the student who sits in the back of the classroom who’s never called on because his name is too hard to pronounce,” Todd said. “It’s the teacher whose brilliance is overshadowed because they don’t look like what leadership has always looked like. It’s the band student who stays late everyday mastering a solo that nobody thought he could play… when people are seen, they rise. We all do.”
Equity ambassadors will have plenty more work to do next school year, and they’re already excited about new ideas and new opportunities. Superintendent Tricia McManus says that equity is a living goal that educators have to keep striving for every day, and whatever obstacles may lie ahead, WS/FCS is determined to keep fighting that fight.
“Any student not thriving means we are not thriving as a school system and we are not thriving as a community,” McManus said. “Until all students are achieving at the highest levels, until all students truly feel that they belong in our schools, we have a long way to go.”