“It was just an idea at first,” junior Devyon Green said.
Junior Rihanna Fields sat in her Spanish class. As she was conversing with her best friend Tazaria Duncan and her teacher Conner McNeely about school clubs, an interesting thought arose.
That was the idea that would eventually blossom into a community.Fields had realized that there had never been a Black Student Union at SHS. She had seen many other unions on social media, and she wondered what it would take to start one here. She shared her thoughts with McNeely and her peers, but shortly after brushed it aside.
But the idea was such a hit that for the next two months, teachers were encouraging her to pursue the club. Even though Fields was aware of the time and effort founding the union would require, she eventually decided to take hold of the idea.
When she did, she soared.
“A student asked, ‘Why don’t we have a BSU?’ I said, ‘Start one,’” McNeely said.
Getting the union up and running was a difficult task. She had to find a team just as passionate and willing to dedicate their time to the union as her if she wanted to be successful.
Luckily, she found her vice president, junior Ariyah Mitchell. Together, they were able to work with McNeely to get sponsors, and the club started.
“It was a lot of work that actually went into it to actually get the club up and running,” Fields said.
Since Fields and Mitchell both have jobs, it was hard to balance all of the planning with their jobs and homework. But with time management and support from their sponsors, they were finally able to host their first call out meeting on Nov. 7.
At first, the small area of McNeely’s room was large enough to hold the amount of people there. They have had three meetings since then, and the union now has about 20 people.
Although the union will likely outgrow the classroom by the end of the school year, they are happy about the amount of people they have gained.
Green was one of the students that Fields reached out to and asked to be on the committee. Since then, he has found that he feels understood by the people in the community.
“I think it was just very nice that I could talk to people like me about problems that I might have,” Green said.
That is one of the reasons behind the BSU: to help people find each other and connect. But Fields’ goals do not stop there.
She hopes to one day collaborate with other BSU’s and fuse their ideas together. She hopes to get new ideas that can inspire not just current students, but students that will join in the years to come.
“The goal is really to make it grow and to let it stick in SHS,” Fields said.
Aside from the club aspects of it, Fields wanted to make the union to help spread black representation to SHS.
Perry Township is one of the most diverse districts in Indiana. With that said, many people of color face discrimination at school every day.
This is what the union hopes to help with. Although it started from one idea, it has turned into a positive space for many.
“The main goal is to create a community for all students and also a safe space to talk about diversity,” Mitchell said.
