Celebrating Women Leaders at Sequoyah

March was Women’s Month and to close it out, I wanted to highlight some of our women leaders on campus. I should also mention that the women leaders in our community are predominately students of color! I hope these stories inspire many, if not all, women at the school to become leaders in and outside of their own communities.

She aspires to leave a mark at Sequoyah by inspiring others to be “creative and think outside the box, [to] take on projects that you think are most interesting.” A project that Crystal took on, for instance, was founding the papermaking initiative as part of her job in the Sustainable Campus Committee previous years. She also wrote and studied a substantial amount on gender issues at Sequoyah, inspired by her Statistics class. 

“I never imagined myself becoming a leader at the start of high school. Now that I have been part of the amazing Latinx Culture Club, I have been able to see amazing women who are leaders that inspired me to be one when I thought I could not be.”

Ada loves hearing about the work Stewardships are doing during Steering Committee. “It makes me happy to know that I’m someone they can reach out to for help. I feel extremely supported by the people in this space and working together to continue improving the Sequoyah community brings me joy.” She hopes that Steering Committee will continue to be a welcoming space for students to share their ideas. 

“Having this kind of environment in place will help build trust between students and faculty. In order to overcome obstacles and honor Sequoyah’s Habits of Mind, effective communication and support need to be in place.” 

Ada also wants to continue bringing the community together through celebrating Latinx culture. She hopes to work with Spanish teacher Marisol Perez to host more Latinx Family Nights. “I would love for the community to come together to eat and learn about Latinx culture!”

Ada also attends forums where she represents the high school, as well as events such as SDLC (Student Diversity Led Conference) to learn more about the different ways in which she can support Sequoyah.

A fun fact about Ada is that she is the longest standing team member in volleyball at Sequoyah. She enjoys welcoming new members and helping to coach them, saying that the experience “has been so amazing.” “I have built strong friendships and have acquired skills such as leadership, confidence, and communication that I also use outside of the sports environment.”

Anna Bluestone

Steering Committee Member: Bylaws Subcommittee 

10th Grade Representative

Anna is a  grade representative for the 10th grade class and a member of the Steering Committee. “I am the main connection from my grade to the administration. If the grade as a whole wants or needs something I am the main voice that the administration will listen to.” 

“My favorite part of being a leader is being able to collaborate with everyone and incorporate everyone’s ideas into solutions to better the community as a whole. I hope to see our community continue to become more cohesive and have a space for every student/faculty/staff/admin voice.”

Amber Greene

Steering Committee Member: Bylaws Subcommittee 

Morning Meeting Committee Chair

As a member of the high school’s Steering Committee and a member of their Bylaws Subcommittee, Amber works to create a “progressive and supportive school community.” These roles allow her to “reevaluate our goals and roles as a Committee to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the student body.”

Outside of the Steering Committee, Amber is also responsible for leading the Morning Meeting Committee, which she enjoys very much. “My favorite part of leading the Morning Meeting Committee is getting to be on a committee with such fantastic members. There is never a dull moment during Stewardship meetings because we are often learning from and laughing with each other. The experience of being able to guide committee members in their various roles has been amazing, but it is much more exciting to see them support and mentor each other.”

Here’s what Amber had to say when asked about what changes she’d like to see at Sequoyah: “Some changes I hope to one day see at Sequoyah include improved communication between administrators and students and increased cultural exposure (especially of the cultures that make up the community). I hope that the exposure to various cultures will not just be through an academic lens but will look in depth at the unique aspects and influences of the culture.”

Amy also enjoys working on her art outside of school. “I love drawing and I’ve been helping my middle school for the past few years by contributing art pieces. The art pieces get placed into an art gallery and all the money raised goes towards funding elective courses for students who attend schools with a large demographic of Latinx, Hispanic, and Black folks.”

Thank you to those who shared their stories. A big thank you to all the other leaders trying to make a difference one day at a time.