The first session of the JustLeaders Student Trainings were held at Queen of Peace High School for Council C students on October 8, St. Scholastica High School for Council A students on October 15, and at Notre Dame High School for Girls for council B schools on October 22. All sessions began at 12:00 and ended at 4:00 p.m. Sue O’Halloran, the program leader, began the session with a discussion of the Dimensions of Diversity (Kaleidoscope Curriculum –Level One) and led the group through an icebreaker in which they were asked to introduce themselves to two others using one dimension of diversity. For the remainder of the session students and teachers worked as individuals and in small groups defining and practicing various aspects of leadership and learning about racism.

In one activity, groups were asked to create and perform a skit on “How the world would be if there was no racism.” This activity challenged participants to think about the effects of racism on society, while simultaneously challenging participants to perform for their peers. Participants were then challenged to reflect on their own leadership qualities.

A substantial portion of the afternoon was spent discussing the Stereotype Continuum (Kaleidoscope Curriculum – Level One) and various forms of racism. Ms. O’Halloran used two videos to begin a discussion of institutional racism. This included a small group activity that focused on students reflecting and sharing a time when they felt they were the victims of discrimination while teachers discussed challenges they felt in their jobs in working with students to combat racism.

The afternoon concluded with a discussion of the expectations and outcomes of the JustLeaders trainings. Each school was challenged to begin discussing a project they can do within their schools working toward dismantling racism. Students were also given a reading assignment and information about ways to communicate with students from other schools. In a closing activity, each participant stood and declared which quality of leadership others could count on them for.

Students from 18 archdiocesan high schools participated in the first session of the JustLeaders Trainings.