‘Stand Against Racism’ assembly at CMS teaches tolerance

WASILLA — In less than 24 hours, Colony Middle School staff were able to snap pictures of just about every student holding up a sign they believed represented their best trait or characteristic.

They saw themselves as happy, athletic, fun, fantastic, kind-hearted, funny, gorgeous, humble, an accomplished musician and a myriad of other positive descriptors. The photos were compiled into a 15-minute slideshow collage at the end of the school’s second annual “Stand Against Racism” assembly Friday.

At first glance, the slideshow might seem out of place. But taken in context with a 90-minute school assembly that focused on embracing diversity and treating everyone with kindness, it was the perfect ending to an inspiring program.

Even two eighth-grade boys, who at first seemed to be making fun of reciting the “Stand Against Racism” pledge with CMS Principal Mary McMahon, appreciated the importance of the event.

“It teaches us diversity and that we’re all equal, we’re all special,” Tyler Daniel said as his friend Rocky Vongprachanh nodded in agreement. “It’s important to know we’re all special so that we can have good self-esteem and can go do things that we’d normally be afraid to do.”

To model that philosophy, McMahon sang a few bars of “The Greatest Love of All” on her own, a cappella to hundreds of students in the gym after being inspired by the bravery of CMS and Valley high school students who performed poems for the crowd.

One of those students, eighth-grader Peyton Shaw, shared with great emotion and clarity an original poem she’d written called “Color Me.” Though sandwiched between CHS leader Kendra McPhail’s recitation of the poem “No One Understands Me But Me” and electric violinist Bryson Andres’ soulful rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Shaw held her own in the middle of the gym.

“So listen to me,” the petite redhead pleaded at the end of her poem. “Because we are indeed all the same underneath. See if we all stripped off our flesh and let our souls and dreams fly free they would mingle in the air like clouds in the breeze until our very essences were mixed and welded into one thing. That singular being we. Now tell me dear audience, what color are we?”

The crowd of Knights, decorated in flamboyantly fun greens and golds for Spirit Day, erupted in hoots and hollers for Shaw before hearing adult spoken word artists Corinna Delgado and Kima Hamilton share their own creations and welcoming singer/songwriter Melissa Mitchell to the floor.

Mitchell, who resembles Melissa Etheridge in style and passion, had nearly the entire room singing and swaying their arms above their heads to the rhythmic chant “We are love.”

It was the perfect mood for Burchell High School’s talented performance poets Kat Chudnofsky and Ashlee Twiford, who will represent Alaska in the national Brave New Voices slam poetry competition in July in San Francisco. The duo shared their own “Diversity Means This” for the appreciative audience.

“Let’s face it, we are the epitome of the melting pot,” they read. “To understand the differences of people in a room, we must first understand the differences in ourselves.”

Each describing their various genetic traits, they conclude that none of it really matters in the end.

“I have my mom’s pale skin, my grandpa’s green eyes, and let’s face It, my hair is as fake as an Alaskan tan,” the red-haired Twiford said as the crowd giggled.

Chudnofsky, whose poise and confidence has multiplied tenfold since her appearance in the district’s Poetry Out Loud contest in February, responded with:

“When I look at you, I care less about the color of your skin and more about the hidden talents that lie within your eyes. I respect people for who they are, not where their ancestors came from.”

In unison, they said, “We are sisters from other misters and mothers, but that doesn’t mean we don’t connect. Our differences are what keep us together and bind us.”

In the end, Hamilton had half the student body dancing in the middle of the gym to a popular line dance before McMahon wrapped up the assembly with a plea to all of the students to make the pledge to stand against racism.

She told the students to look deep within themselves and decide if they were ready to make the promise to treat everyone with kindness and respect.

“If you choose to say it today, I want you to speak it with passion as it comes from your heart,” she said. “It’s the words we’re saying today that will change the school we learn in and the community we live in and ultimately the world. A small group of us can change the world.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.