Oswego D-308 event lets students share their diverse experiences, challenges

Oswego East High School sophomore Shirin Shaik Abdullah wants to help her fellow students feel a sense of belonging.

“When you find an environment that you are welcomed in, you feel more comfortable and you feel like you want to get more involved,” said Shaik Abdullah, who was born in India and now lives in Plainfield.

She will participate in the AMPLIFY “Walk A Mile In Our Shoes” event that will take place from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 at Oswego East High School. The event, presented by the District Student Coalition, allows students to share their experiences and challenges with their identity, gender, religion, race, abilities and mental health.

As a Oswego East student, Shaik Abdullah is involved in the District Student Coalition along with Model United Nations and the Muslim Student Association. The March 21 event will also feature student-led breakout sessions addressing such topics as racism, religious freedom and gender identity.

This is the third year the AMPLIFY events have been taking place. Jadon Waller, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Oswego School District 308, came up with the idea.

“I wanted to give the students the opportunity to be heard,” Waller said. “They just want to be heard. They just want to be seen. It takes a lot of courage for them to get in front of the community and other folks and say, ‘Hey, this is what this experience is like for me. This is my journey. This is what I love and these are some of my challenges.’ It’s an opportunity to just meet them where they are.”

She is happy with the impact the program has had.

“I think it has sparked a lot of conversation,” Waller said.

Oswego High School senior JaKhai Hudson said an event like “Walk A Mile In Our Shoes” stresses the importance of listening to other people.

“I wanted to give the students the opportunity to be heard. They just want to be heard. They just want to be seen.”

—  Jadon Waller, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Oswego School District 308

“It is an opportunity for others to listen and learn about each other,” he said. “I think this event is an opportunity to exercise traits that make you a better partner or a better neighbor, a better co-worker, a better brother or sister, son or daughter or just a better human overall.”

He will be reading a poem entitled “Freedom of Expression” with another member of the coalition.

“We’ll kind of take listeners on a journey through our lives,” Hudson said.

He participated in one of the AMPLIFY events last April and noted how the District Student Coalition brings together people from all different walks of life. Hudson is also a board member of the Black Student Association at Oswego High School.

Boulder Hill Elementary fifth grade student Ellonie Guerra also will be part of the event. She will be part of a panel with other elementary school students and high school students asking a variety of questions.

She will be talking about her Mexican American heritage as well. Her favorite subject at school is math.

“It exercises your brain,” she said.

In addition, she exercises her body by playing soccer.

Her mother, Yesenia Guerra, teaches third grade dual language at Boulder Hill. Guerra’s son also attends Boulder Hill.

“It is really nice to be able to come to school with them and to leave after school with them,” she said. “It’s nice also because I feel like it helps me be more involved in what they do. So I appreciate that.”

Guerra is proud of the students’ involvement in putting on the event next month.

“I think parents would enjoy just the fact that it’s put on by the kids themselves and you hear their experiences and you hear their hopes and dreams,” she said.

More information about the event is available by going to the district’s website, sd308.org.