Sixth Annual Day of Welcome hosted by the SHS Civil Rights Team

By RORY WHITE, STAFF WRITER

Sanford, ME – The Civil Rights Team at Sanford High School has organized a Day of Welcome on Nov. 8 to promote a more acceptance and welcoming environment in our schools. 

The Day of Welcome is to promote the Civil Rights Team’s most known message, “We welcome everyone. All races and skin colors, all national origins and ancestries, all religions, all disabilities, all genders (identity and expression), and all sexual orientations.” 

In order to do this, they are asked to create banners, signs, or  some kind of display which shows this message somehow, according to the Maine Department of Education’s Newsletter. 

The Civil Rights Team, consisting of Kenneth Noble, Lily Gillis, Giuliana Drouin, Sam Dunbar, Alexandra Herring, Alex Seeback, Taiga Poppas, Grace Pearson, Jordan Small, Cassidy Rivard, Leah Soucy, Alex Fraize, and their co- advisors, Jennifer Raymond and Heidi Whitney, have worked together to put together the Day of Welcome. They’ve made slides for the school’s tvs, put out announcements, and did multiple crafts in order to get ready for the Day of Welcome. 

“We plan on having a sticker mosaic during lunches next Friday to create an inclusive message, a new welcome sign that students have created for the Competition Gym/PAC entrance to the building, and some sidewalk chalk messages for Friday,” says Heidi Whitney, English teacher and co-advisor. 

If you would like to join the Civil Rights Team, they meet  Mondays after school in the library. You are always welcome to join.