Bus update for the week of March 1. Service suspended for: #5 – Pine Ridge, #5 – Central Middle/Central High, #6 – Northern Trails, #6 – Northern Middle/Northern High, #74 Knapp Forest, #74 – Eastern Middle/Eastern High, #75 – Central Woodlands, #75 – Central Middle/Central High. Service resumes for: #40 – Northern Trails, #40 – Northern Middle/Northern High, #65 – Thornapple, #65 – Central Middle/Central High, #72 – Knapp Forest, #72 – Eastern Middle/Eastern High, #93 – Pine Ridge, #93 – Northern Middle/Northern High.
Student Leaders: “I’ve always believed in justice.”
Story by School News Network–This eighth-grader is already working to be an agent of change in her school, community, and state. When Northern Hills Middle School Principal David Simpson stopped Ari James in the hallway last fall to tell her he had nominated her for a seat on a newly formed statewide anti-racism council, she recalls thinking, “That sounds really cool and official.” Indeed. And it is a perfect fit for the eighth-grader who already is making social justice a cause to which she is committed. “The anti-racism part is definitely something I am very passionate about,” she said. “(Racism) is something that’s been going on for too long. It needs to stop. Lots of times people don’t even realize they’re doing it.”
Like peers asking her where she is from from. Or touching her hair without permission. Or why saying “all lives matter” misses the point of the deadly reasons why Black Lives Matter became a movement.
“I’ve always believed in justice, always had that sense of right and wrong, and been taught to care about people,” Ari said. “We have to be willing to really listen to each other, to not only not be racist, but to stomp racism out of existence.”
Read more about how Ari is advocating for change, her role on State Superintendent Michael Rice’s Anti-Racism Middle School Advisory Council, and how she’s leading to share her voice, and create safe spaces for dialogue, with the complete story online with School News Network.
