The Student Equity Coalition (SEC) was formed in June 2020 to bring together students from different constituencies in the school to work together for peace and justice in the entire community. Four students (Sinna Nick, Maeve Korengold, Kezie Osei, and Amina Iman) approached Principal Tanganyika Millard to discuss their concerns about inequities, discrimination, and hate speech in the school.

The SEC is now developing subcommittees so that students can be involved in the area of justice about which they are most passionate. The subcommittees include student athletes, students with disabilities, and students whose first language is not English.

These four students have now undertaken leadership roles in the Coalition, and each one provides a different perspective. Sinna, also a member of the FCPS Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee, reports that as a Black elementary student, she experienced slights and microaggressions.

Maeve became involved in peace work as a student ambassador with Safe Space of Northern Virginia, an organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, and intersex youth, and was invited to write an article for Washington Blade, the area’s leading LGBTQ newspaper. She researched the West Potomac curriculum and spoke to staff and classmates about how the exclusion of queer people in the history curriculum has a negative effect on sexual minority students.

Kezie, a child of a Ghanaian immigrant, is interested in computer science and is a member of Girls in Engineering, Math and Science. She is also a member of the Leadership Class, Girl Up (which supports and empowers females around the world), and the Black Student Union. She says, “Although West Potomac has a diverse student body, I do not see people like me in areas of leadership or technology. I think the SEC can change that.”

Amina, whose parents are Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, says she was removed from the Advanced Academic Programs based on test scores, and she felt she had to fit in with the White students to be accepted. However, she gradually realized that efforts to conform meant that she was neglecting her own religion and culture. Amina is now pressuring students and staff to be sure that information about advanced classes is distributed equally to everyone.

Faculty Advisor Jacqueline Fleming says, “These four young women are devoted to the idea that we can all live and work in a peaceful environment once education and awareness happens. Their activism and strong belief that they can make our school a better place makes them the best kind of citizen we all strive to be.”