Miss Iowa: Challenge Education Bias
Miss Iowa 2014 Aly Olson, a Lincoln High School graduate, says students in other school districts are missing out.
Miss Iowa 2014, Aly Olson, knows what it feels like to be exposed to bias and misconceptions.
She shared an experience with Harding Middle School students in Des Moines this week.
“I was telling someone I graduated from Lincoln High School in Des Moines and that person replied, ‘You don’t look like someone who graduated from Lincoln,’” Olson said. The tall, fit, Caucasian, redheaded Southsider said she politely replied, “What is someone who graduated from Lincoln supposed to look like?”
Des Moines Public Schools have been labeled many things over the years that Olson said are simply not true. She told the Harding 6th graders she studied with talented teachers, and couldn’t be more proud of the quality of her academic education. She said her social education, going to class with students who were different from each other in race, income and background, was just as important and valuable.
“I’ve gotten to hear experiences from friends at other high schools and I’ve realized how unique and special that was to Des Moines Public Schools,” Olson said. “Now, no matter what group I speak in front of, no matter what the composition of that group looks like, I’m going to feel very comfortable speaking with them and be successful communicating and connecting with them, even if I’m the only person who looks like me.”
Growing up on the Southside, Olson also attended Jefferson Elementary and Brody Middle School. In high school, she took advantage of advanced studies available to all DMPS students.
“I had access to great music programs, great sports and academic excellence at Central Academy and in my own Lincoln High School,” Olson said.
But she said some of her favorite school memories were created on the soccer field and in the homes of her classmates.
“I would hear just as much Spanish on the soccer fields as I was hearing English,” she said. “It was a unique and powerful experience for me to be invited into homes that were very different from mine growing up. It was a beautiful cultural exchange.”
Olson said she will pursue the title of Miss America in September with all of her heart. She encouraged the students to follow their dreams, too, and appreciate the advanced and well-rounded, diverse educational experience they will only find in Des Moines.
