FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Four Florence School District One students – Madelyn Parrot, James Wong, Houston Taylor and Joyce Ji – hope to promote racial unity within schools.
News13’s Kiahnna Patterson spoke with the students about how they want to change not only the schools but the community.
It all started as an advocacy English project.
“We all wrote down our interest in things we feel like we can advocate for in our community. We all put down discrimination. Together we decided on racism,” passionately explained Madelyn Parrot.
About one month after learning more about the topic and interviewing Former District Superintendent Dr. Allie E. Brooks, their project turned into a district-wide campaign for ‘change’.
“I’ve just always thought about my future and how I can get to where I want to go but to really impact other lives and try and help them move forward to what they want their dreams to be without discrimination. It just means a lot,” said Houston Taylor.
The International Baccalaureate Sophomores all chipped in about $20 to buy 300 ‘We Are One’ bracelets, each customized with every high school color.
“This is a physical object… people look at it more and people take time to actually read the statistics that we have attached,” said James Wong.
Each bracelet is for sale for $1 and all of the proceeds will go to the ‘Helping Florence Flourish’ organization made up of different churches to promote unity.
“At first we were doing this project so we could make a one hundred [percent] on a school assignment but now we’re like selling the bracelets to make sure that everyone can hear about it,” admits Joyce Ji.
The group’s teacher Laura Anne Hofler says the class discussed the racially insensitive email sent by a former board member, Glenn Odom, but says the students want to focus more on overall acceptance.
“’We Are One’ is a great phrase for where we are in history even where we are as a community. Everywhere we look there seems to divisiveness and people that don’t get along. These kids that represent a lot of diversity in themselves are speaking out about how we are all the same. When it gets down to it we all value the same thing. Want the same things for our lives. They are helping all of us to remember our common humanity,” said Hofler.
She says she is very proud of all of her students.
“I hope people will wear these bracelets and it will be a reminder of their daily lives about how meaningful their interactions can be and extend kindness to all people. To reserve judgment. I hope for these students that it will be a powerful lesson of how they can in little ways make a difference in their world,” said Hofler.
So far the group’s sold 200 wristbands. They also received an order for 100 bands from St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church. They plan to order more bands later this week.
The group will receive their grade for the project next week.
For more information on how you can buy a $1 ‘We are One’ band email Laura Anne Hofler at laura.hofler@Fsd1.Org.
