On Wednesday, April 19, Saratoga Springs High School (SSHS) hosted its first of three “No Place for Hate” events. The assembly, part of an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) program to improve inclusion, equity, and allyship in schools, included testimonies about experiences of exclusion and inclusion in the SSCSD, and the formal launch of SSHS’ “Ally Program.”
The mission to become a “No Place for Hate” school has been led by the school’s National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) and a coalition of SSHS clubs, known as Club-Club. To become a “No Place for Hate” school, SSHS must host three school-wide, student-driven events each school year. The Ally Program, a related but separate initiative from “No Place for Hate” was launched at Wednesday’s event due to the similarity between the two programs’ goals—both emphasizing inclusion and anti-bias work.
“The idea behind the Ally Program came from the district Equity and Inclusion Committee,” said Coach Colleen Belanger, an “ally” within the program. “Students are more likely to go talk to a teacher than an admin, and sometimes their counselors are just hard to find.” The teacher “allies” volunteered to be members of the program and attended a lot of meetings and some building-wide training before the program got formally implemented.
“They are just trying to make it more clear to students who otherwise wouldn’t have a safe teacher to speak to that they are available and willing to listen,” said junior Adam Brown. “Most kids I know are fortunate enough to have some sort of contact outside the Ally Program. For those kids that don’t have that sort of connection, I think that’s what they are providing with Ally Program.”
Despite just launching a week ago, both the Ally Program and the “No Place for Hate” initiative have been in the works for a while. “We started working on our plans for the event over the summer. We had some of our NCBI members come into the school to work on our plans for Club-Club with Mrs. Donelan after she taught summer school during July and August,” said student organizer and NCBI Vice President Sofia Anzaroot. “We wanted the assembly to be the first initiative of Club-Club. We had originally aimed to hold the event in May or June, but in early March, the Administration asked us to hold it in April instead.”
According to Anzaroot, that push to host the assembly earlier is unrelated to the recent Times Union article that reported on racism within the SSCSD, contrary to rumors spreading around SSHS. “We know there were many speculations that the school put on this event to save face, but this event was not put on by the school. This was all student-led, and frankly, the school’s image was not a concern of ours,” said Anzaroot.
Although the NCBI students leading the event may have not been concerned with optics, student Carly Fay highlighted a concern that the administration’s goals in supporting “No Place for Hate” may be more about keeping up appearances than helping students. “I really liked the idea of the assembly and I think it’s really important,” said Fay. “I’m a little bit confused as to if we are just doing this to get the certification that we are ‘No Place for Hate’ so we get the banner, or if it’s genuine.” In a survey of 167 students conducted by The Lightning Rod, 22% of students “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that having a “No Place for Hate” banner in the lobby would make students feel more welcome. Over 40% of students answered “disagree” or “strongly disagree.”
Other students were focused on issues of diversity within the students selected to speak on the panel at the “No Place for Hate” assembly. “I’m a mixed-race student here and after talking about the assembly with some other minority friends, we all noticed how not a single student of color wanted to speak or share,” said one respondent to The Lightning Rod’s survey. “It seems obvious to us, but I’d like to make clear that I’m sure so many kids wouldn’t [speak] out of fear that we’d get bullied, harassed, or hurt. We’re at the point where we are literally in fear of getting hurt.”
The organizers of the event emphasized that getting a diverse group of panelists was a priority, but that it was hard to get student volunteers. “We didn’t have many applicants, we had 10 at most, and we had many of them (five or six out of the ten) decide not to do it,” said Anzaroot. “We really did want to have a Black voice on our panel.”
While surveyed students commended the vulnerability and openness of the panelists, some students were concerned with the nature of the stories shared on the panel. Of the 6 panelists who spoke at the event, 4 shared stories centered on experiences of exclusion, while 2 focused more on positive experiences of being included in the SSCSD. “Throwing in positive stories of inclusion is nice and all, but it sugarcoats the point of the assembly and takes away from the reality of the school environment,” said one surveyed student.
Although students disagreed about how the events were run, when surveyed, 64% of students “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that there are problems regarding inclusion at SSHS. As to whether “No Place for Hate” and the Ally Program would help these problems, the reviews were mixed. About 31% of students said they “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the “No Place for Hate” assemblies and Ally Program would help students feel included. Around 29% of students “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the same statement.
“Our school’s goal in becoming a ‘No Place for Hate’ school is that everyone learns to have a basic respect for each other, and can find a way to peacefully coexist, so that students can come to school and feel that they are in a safe environment, regardless of who they are,” said Anzaroot. Only time will tell if that goal is achieved.