Black Student Union seeks to make cultural change at Gig Harbor High School. Here’s how
The art room is home to Gig Harbor High School’s newest club that is by the kids, with the kids, and for the kids.
That’s how senior Jasmine Lopez described the school’s Black Student Union to the student body when she introduced the club in January at the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. assembly.
Lopez, president of the BSU, told her peers no matter their background, culture or race, every student was welcome to join, she told the Gateway.
Lopez told the Gateway she’s heard rumors from other students that the BSU wants to create a political divide, which Lopez said is false. BSU strives to uplift Black students at GHHS, Lopez said.
Shocked looking at the list of clubs
In Sept. 2022, sophomore Leila Jeneby walked into GHHS for her first day of school, after transferring from Lincoln High School in Seattle.
Jeneby bumped into Lopez in the counselor’s office and explained it was her first day.
Lopez offered to give Jeneby a tour of the school.
“I immediately searched the school’s pamphlet for information on their Black Student Union and was shocked it wasn’t on the list,” Jeneby said.
Jeneby was part of Lincoln’s BSU.
“The model I had at Lincoln is what I want for BSU at Gig Harbor,” Jeneby said. “We connected with peers, hosted community speakers, and went on field trips ... but we also talked about our roots and the power that comes from knowing them.”
At the end of the tour, Lopez and Jeneby agreed to start a BSU together in hopes they’d change the culture at GHHS.
Lopez and Jeneby turned to Alyse Yeaman, the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion leader, who is also the art teacher. They also turned to O’Shea McLaughlin, GHHS’s Communities In Schools liaison, for support.
Yeaman and McLaughlin agreed to be co-advisors of the BSU.
The first meeting was Jan. 17. Students got to know each other better and socialize over ice cream. They’ve had about 25 students show up each Tuesday.
Lopez is president and Jeneby is vice president. The two work together to plan each meeting.
By the second meeting, they had their first guest speaker.
Mike Bellerive, with Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, spoke to the students about the department’s new DEI initiative that educates members of their department and aims to find ways to bring in more diverse hires, Lopez said.
Changing the culture
Rumors around school allege the BSU is trying to create a political divide, Lopez said.
“We just want to spread awareness and love,” she told the Gateway.
“Students continue to show up, be interested, vulnerable, ask questions, and want to make a difference,” McLaughlin told the Gateway.
McLaughlin and Yeaman want the students to have full control over BSU.
“I want their voices to be heard as much as possible,” McLaughlin said. “It’s about them and what they want.”
They want to focus on Black joy, Jeneby said.
“In our classes, we’re usually focused on slavery or the oppression of Black people and how we’ve been held down,” Jeneby said. “Which I’m sure we’ll talk about in BSU, but this space can also uplift students and be a place for conversations.”
“We need to have everybody feel welcome at GHHS,” Lopez said.
It can be an unwelcoming environment when students hear racial slurs from peers in the lunchroom and classrooms, Lopez and Jeneby told the Gateway.
“There’s only so much a white administration can understand about how hearing racial slurs affects the Black kids at school,” Jeneby said.
The Peninsula School District recently hired a third-party to investigate after a GHHS girls’ basketball player allegedly made a discriminatory comment to a PHS player last month.
The district hasn’t released specifics about the allegation.
“To respect the students’ and families’ right to privacy, and to ensure a fair and accurate investigation, information may not be disclosed to the public at this time,” the district said in a news release Feb. 9. “Once the investigation is officially complete, a report will be provided to district administrators.”
The district did not allow fans at the Feb. 10 girls’ basketball game between the two schools.
“Students need a space they can come together and just breathe,” Yeaman said. “It’s exhausting feeling like you’re on defense all the time.”
GHHS Principal Michele Suiter hopes the BSU can be a safe place for students to learn from one another.
“The students are ready to have these conversations, and we need to have them,” Suiter said.
She believes the BSU is a positive step toward changing the culture at GHHS and educating students.
“The more ways we can come together as a community, we can breakdown some of the perceptions or barriers that stand in the way,” Suiter said. “BSU can be a safe place to help educate. When we know better, we can do better.”
She’s excited to watch BSU’s progress and the difference it can make at GHHS.
“I am super happy to be in this place in 2023 where GHHS has BSU,” Suiter said. “This is good work and we need to keep doing this work, the time is now to make a difference in our communities.”
Lopez and Jeneby are working together to bring outside resources to the club.
For example, they’re considering bringing in someone who could speak about what to do as a Black driver when you get pulled over by the police.
Jeneby received this talk at LHS and thinks her peers at GHHS could benefit from hearing it, too.
They hope to encourage other high schools in the district to start their own BSU.
“We know Peninsula High School and Henderson High School don’t have a BSU, but we want to see them take a step in uplifting Black students, too,” Jeneby said.
They’ve also talked about mentoring Black students next door at Discovery Elementary School.
Yeaman hopes to coordinate a BSU field trip to Washington High School’s cultural fair this spring.
“Students will be able to experience different clubs and culturally connect,” Yeaman said.
Black History Month
The BSU spent their first meeting in February making Black History Month posters to decorate the hallways, cafeteria, and doorways of the school.
“We put a banner in the front of the school for students to see when they walk in everyday this month” Jeneby said.
Around school students will see a bunch of different designs, Jeneby said.
Some hallways have portraits of famous Black artists, poets and celebrities. Others have quotes that students have chosen to display.
Lopez and Jeneby hope to dive into historic events and possibly watch a relevant documentary this month.
Valentine’s Day falls on a BSU Tuesday, and they’re hoping to pull together a “Mental Heath and Black Love Day” with foods that celebrate Black culture.
“Everyone can take the time to check in with each other and talk about how we’re feeling being a Black kid in a very white state and school,” Jeneby said.
