‘We Belong’: MSAN students present at Safe and Healthy School Summit

There were special guests at the tenth annual Safe and Healthy School Summit hosted at Greenfield Community College this fall–members of ARHS’s MSAN (Multicultural Student Achievement Network) club. 

Dean of Students and club adviser Mary Custard took seniors Sanaa Johnson, Rutiene Varela Vaz, Victor Nunez Saravia, and Abdi Byl Brann to GCC to share a plan they developed over the last year for how our school could build an environment where students feel they belong at school. 

Their presentation called “How We Belong” received a standing ovation. Gaelin Elmore was the keynote speaker and also moderated their panel presentation. “MSAN came to speak to [administrators and] other students and build a more inclusive environment,” said Varela Vaz.

“The conference was for the superintendents in this area to hear students’ input,” said Johnson. 

All the presenting students took an MSAN trip last year to a conference and then came up with a plan they worked on this year about increasing students’ feelings of connection at school. The group presented their thoughts to ARHS staff in the auditorium at the end of the 2024 school year, largely about how schools could increase positive feelings among students who are often excluded or marginalized at school.

Johnson said the MSAN conference last year “allowed students to voice our opinions,” and it felt like “the students’ input was really valued.”  

This year, when presenting their thoughts on how teachers and school leaders can make schools more inclusive, especially for students of color, Johnson said it felt amazing. 

“It gave the superintendents a chance to hear us out. The audience stood up, cheered, and clapped for us and what we had to say,” she said.

According to Johnson, the conference lasted about six hours and included lunch. Johnson decided she should go because she thinks “it’s important for teachers to hear how students feel, especially if you want them to feel like they belong in school.” 

Varela Vaz attended because she “heard it was a bunch of kids like us that wanted to help change things for the better.”