'We have to start early': Green Bay school district finds new way to empower younger students of color and celebrate their cultures

GREEN BAY - See it. Be it.

I am somebody. I am my ancestors' greatest dream come true.

Se lo máximo.

Be your authentic selves.

Those were the messages that every student walked away with after attending one of the Green Bay Area Public School District's seven achievement summits in partnership with UW-Green Bay this school year.

In the school district, 60% are students of color. For that reason, the summits brought together Somali, Black, Latino, Latina, Asian American and First Nations students to celebrate students' cultural identities and help them feel ready for post-high school college and career paths.

The last summit was held Tuesday, with nearly 100 First Nations students from seven Green Bay schools in attendance.

For many students, the sheer number of other Native students gathered in place stood out most to them. It was a chance to learn with friends and get to know other Native American students. Oftentimes, these students may only realize how many are in their own class, rather than their total numbers across the district.

“I like to know that there’s a lot more Native Americans than just at our school,” said Motu Haruo, an Oneida student at Franklin Middle School.

The summits were created to celebrate students' cultural identities and help them feel ready for college and careers.

Students at other achievement summits took part in similar cultural workshops, with all of them empowering the students with the same message of believing in what's possible for themselves.

"Take your heritage with you. Be better than the generation before," said Kou Chang, Howe associate principal, at the end of the APIDA summit held April 27.

Every summit involves different cultural workshops, meeting local professionals, a tour of the university, and hearing from keynote speakers. The goal is to celebrate their cultures, show the support they have within the district, know they are capable and to know they have opportunities after high school.

How the achievement summits in Green Bay came about

The idea for the summits came from Ingrid Parker-Hill, a family engagement coordinator for Green Bay schools.

She saw opportunities to connect high school students of color with local colleges but wanted to see similar opportunities for students of color at the elementary and middle school levels.

The district organized a couple achievement summits for Black sixth-grade students in the 2019-20 school year, but had to cancel others planned at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It got started again this year when schools resumed more in-person operations.

Parker-Hill envisioned the summits to be a way to empower students, to see they can be successful and have teachers who believe in their academic abilities. That’s huge, Parker-Hill said, to change the narrative of success for students of color.

“There has to be a school success pipeline. As far as cultural opportunities, our kids don’t see themselves around enough positively,” she said.

Why starting the summits with younger children is important

Many times similar kinds of events are held at the high school level. Gearing the summits to middle schoolers starts the relationship early and helps boost retention rates, which are lower for students of color in Green Bay.

The four-year high school graduation rate for white students was nearly 91% in the 2020-21 year, compared to between 77% to 85% for every other racial group, except Asian high school students with a 94% graduation rate, according to state Department of Instruction data.

This year, the district got a grant from UW-Green Bay to hold more summits, leading to seven different ones throughout this school year. Holding the summits at UW-Green Bay shows the students the opportunities that are available to them when they are ready for them.

“We have to start early for those things to start connecting, where they see where they could be,” Parker-Hill said.

The summit was also an emotional one for teachers and district leaders to see their cultures on display.

School board member Laura Laitinen-Warren was beaming with pride and gratitude to see the power of community at UW-Green Bay, surrounded by tribal leaders, Oneida royalty, over a hundred Native American children, and other staff members she hadn’t even realized were also part of Oneida.

“To see the diversity within First Nations children and to know they’re all dreams of their ancestors to thrive and grow and be able to do things like this,” she said.

Laitinen-Warren is a member of the Oneida Nation and her children are multiracial. She has conversations with them all the time about celebrating their rich Oneida, Black and Finnish heritage.

To see the students feel that connectedness throughout the room and take their history with them on a path after high school was an important moment to take in, Laitinen-Warren said.

Middle school teacher inspired by the summit's effect on children of color

That was one of the reasons Lombardi Middle School teacher Mai Nu Vang wanted to be part of the APIDA Achievement Summit planning committee.

She wanted to help students see their own abilities because a teacher's belief in a student has the power to go a long way, she said.

"When I was younger no one told me what's the right path. As an adult, let's be that for them. If you really want this, go for it," Vang said.

She is the only Hmong teacher at Lombardi and hopes she can be that voice for Hmong students to see their potential future. She left the summit feeling inspired.

The district hopes to continue the summits next year. Teachers, like Vang, are already volunteering to fundraise and make sure they keep going so everyone sees the power in numbers.

"Communities of color have added barriers. That doesn't need to be but it is," Vang said. "For us, when one of us wins, we all win."

Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay School District's achievement summits celebrate diversity