Connections Quarterly Summer 25 | Page 33

STUDENT AGENCY IN CULTURE CHANGE

the beauty of doing an exercise like this. It creates opportunities for student empowerment and agency regardless of age and allows students to see how they can make a lasting difference in changing the culture of a school.

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After that first group of students had done the audit and presented their findings, they were invited to attend( and present at) a regional diversity conference for area independent schools. It was a conference by and for adults, and they were the first students ever invited to present. Afterwards, one of the participants from another school pulled me aside and said,“ Wow. Your students were so impressive.” Yes, they were. But the deeper truth is that they were given a voice and were genuinely listened to by the adults; they developed greater empathy in that they had to put themselves into the shoes of others; they were empowered to be agents of real and significant change at their school because they rose to and met the challenge. And, not incidentally, they made their school a place of greater belonging as a result. •

John Sharon is Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning at Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC. If anyone would like a copy of the Accessibility Audit, please email him at jsharon @ cfsnc. org.

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