Event to Address Biases and Inclusion with Students

Des Moines Public Schools is always climbing. There are no plateaus, no leveling off. The district has the peaks of a mountain range.

There’s the annual Teen Summit staged downtown every winter by the Urban Leadership program at Central Campus.

Last month the second annual School Summit on Climate and Culture staged at the Iowa Events Center. It was a rousing kickoff for the new school year aimed at teachers and administrators that drew from a wide radius of school districts.

Coming up next is an event designed for high school students across central Iowa, this one addressing inter- instead of intra-scholastic issues around climate and culture.

The Youth Diversity & Inclusion Summit, sponsored by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is scheduled for Friday, September 29. Student representatives from 17 area high schools have committed to attend.

This will be an inaugural event. Why now?

Last fall after a football game between a DMPS high school and one from a metro suburb, players from the two teams mingled to exchange congratulations on a hard fought game. In a gross violation of the spirit of that ritual, a player from the suburban school insulted a player from the city school with a racial slur. Later in the season a similar incident involved two DMPS schools.

Those weren’t the first times such incidents occurred and they aren’t likely to be the last. But they did become the catalysts for a positive, promising event that’s been in development ever since.

“Kevin Biggs (Roosevelt High School’s principal) was instrumental in taking the lead in understanding something needed to be done on a larger scale to bring all groups together for the good of the community,” said Jason Allen, DMPS Director of District Activities and Community Education and part of the team organizing the new summit. “Wellmark embraced the idea and committed to partnering with the district.”

“One of our core values is inclusion, which means valuing, respecting and appreciating differences,” said Cory Jackson, Wellmark Health Management Consultant. “The Youth Diversity Inclusion Summit is a great opportunity to partner with Des Moines Public Schools and involve student leaders on the topics of diversity and inclusion. Wellmark is proud to partner with DMPS to support these efforts.”

Throughout the day student delegates will listen to keynote speakers and engage in discussions with counterparts from other schools. Each attending school will develop an action plan as a takeaway from the groundbreaking event.

“This conference could be transformational for the greater Des Moines area and surrounding communities if we are all willing to understand how our biases impact others,” said Allen. “By making those connections and having a heart to change our longstanding beliefs and mindsets, diversity will be celebrated in all of our schools, and an inclusive environment, where everyone feels valued and respected, will be the norm.” 

In addition to East, Hoover, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt high schools, other CIML-members schools expected to attend the event include Ames, Ankeny Centennial, Marshalltown, Southeast Polk, Urbandale, Waukee, and West Des Moines Valley.