Kansas City Public Schools: In Social Justice Class, Students At East High School Learn To Speak Up For Their Community

Press release from Kansas City Public Schools:

October 28, 2021

Seniors Stefano Merced and Daniela Moreno wish more people saw the East High School they do.

“Test scores don’t tell the whole story,” Stefano said. “People in this school are dealing with a lot of things, at home and in life, and where we live inhibits us sometimes.”

“East High School is a good high school. Teachers help you with anything you need,” Daniela said. “But we need more funding.”

Stefano and Daniela are students in the social justice class at East, taught by Vice Principal Bryan VanOsdale. It’s a capstone class that challenges students’ assumptions about race, culture and identity.

“We had a week-long talk about race and how it’s imaginary,” said senior Juan Vejar. “It’s not real. It’s a social construct.”

Mind blown, he mouths, closed fists exploding open over his head.

And that’s exactly why VanOsdale developed this course 13 years ago. Known to his students as Mr. Van, VanOsdale wanted his students to think critically about how the world was changing after Barack Obama was elected president. Then and now, he reminds students of their power as young people.

“Do you realize who was the civil rights movement? They were 16, 17, 18, 19 years old,” VanOsdale said. “They sat at lunch counters and had food poured on them. They walked through the doors of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. They rode the Trailways and Greyhound buses across the South during Freedom Summer.

Recently, students in the social justice class participated in a listening session with KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, as part of a project to bridge the urban and rural divide.

This press release was produced by Kansas City Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.