On the South Washington County Schools website, one can read about the curriculum for high school english classes. One of the standards listed there states that students will study novels that provide diverse perspectives of life. It reads, “Through reading great classic andcontemporary works of literature representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews, students can vicariously inhabit worlds and have experiences much different than their own.”

However, this expectation is the exact thing that the Diversify Our Narrative 833 organization is fighting for. The group claims, “We go to school 30 hours a week, yet we still have to educate ourselves on social issues at home.” There seems to be quite the disconnect.

The Cottage Grove Journal has investigated what the initiative is all about and their relevance to Cottage Grove.

Diversify Our Narrative 833 is “a student-led initiative demanding that anti- racist media be integrated into D833 curriculum to ensure an inclusive community for years to come.” It is a branch of the larger organization, Diversify Our Narrative, that emerged after the killing of George Floyd and while great awareness of racial injustice was being raised on social media this past summer. Two Stanford students in California established the original initiative. From that moment in June, DON spread into every region of the United States and eventually touched the hearts of eleven high schoolers in the South Washington County School system.

“Diversify Our Narrative, the main account that started in California, was really big, so I think that it was a big time for us and we realized that our district needed something like this, that it was really important to have,” one of the Cottage Grove leaders, Mia McGraw informed the Cottage Grove Journal.

The central aspect of DON 833 is their petition. This online form consists of a letter to the school board, seven specific proposals, and a place for people to declare their support with a signature.

First, the letter to the school board lays down what the movement is about. It is in this note where they convey that they are striving to “encourage a productive dialogue on race and identity among our student bodies.”

Later on, they also voice, “… We must strive to understand the perspectives of Black/ Brown communities and do everything in our power to educate those who come through our school systems.”

Further into the letter are where DON 833’s seven specific proposals are located. These notions have yet to be presented to the school board. In summary, they ask that a minimum of one book that portrays a person of color’s experiences in an accurate way be added to the lesson plan of every high school English class. English teachers would have freedom in selecting that single text from a list of recommendations. Then, it would be expected that theclasses analyze the novel to an equal extent as their other books. Student Initative

From Page 1 The final proposal exhorts that throughout the teaching of the adopted text, guidelines of racial sensitivity be followed with help from a voluntary task force.

The list of recommended novels alluded to in their proposals is linked in the petition. It displays books and short stories that would bring awareness of racism to high schools. Titles such as The Hate U Give , I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, and Malala Yousafazi’s autobiography, I Am Malala , are a part of the mix. The document organizes the listed books by their themes, ranging from racial discrimantion and immigration to feminism and mental health.

Which leaves the reader to wonder; are all of these themes absent in high school english?

McGraw responded to this question, “Yes, I personally for sure think this.”

If social issues are not being addressed in classrooms, what exactly are students studying during school hours? Sources show that the most common books of the country that are utilized in public high schools include titles like The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet. These books are also analyzed in SWCS’s high school English classes. It can be argued that these novels express solid themes, too. For example, topics of homecoming, sacrificial love, and hospitality are presented in the writings. However, DON pinpoints a dilemma that comes with the prevalence of these books. In 2017, The National Center for Education Statistics collected data displaying that of the 50.7 million students enrolled in both public elementary and secondary education, 52% were members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color) community. Even with this truth, the top ten most commonly studied books in public high schools are written by white authors. The issue remains; there is a diverse collection of public school students and that diversity is not being reflected in their English curriculum.

DON 833 is combatting that exact matter. However, in their mission, the group wants to make it clear that they are not interested in completely eliminating the most common books. Mc-Graw spelled out, “…we’re not looking to get rid of any text…Our goal is to incorporate new literature and it’s not like we need to kick something out to incorporate the new text.”

So far in their fight, this branch of DON has reached 300 signatures on their petition.

This is a mighty achievement, but they have more work to do. McGraw enlightened the Cottage Grove Journal on the group’s necessary next steps, “…we’re still trying to get more [signatures] because we need a certain amount before we can talk to the school board…That’s a really big thing, we need a certain number of signatures to be able to talk to them and get our voice across…Parents of students can sign it or people who live over here or people who have past/previous students, like alumni.”

McGraw is asking for the community’s support because Diversify Our Narrative 833 is very significant and personal to her. She voices keenly, “I’m really big about just wanting equality for everyone and I understand that as a BIPOC person and as someone who is adopted by white people that representation throughout Cottage Grove and media everywhere, it’s really hard for BIPOC people and members to feel like they’re represented in the media.

“When you’re growing up it’s really really hard because you…don’t feel like you should be a person of color, it’s really hard because you’re so surrounded by everything that is really white and white-based.”

She continued, explaining the changes that could be achieved among students once they gain signatures and can deliberate with the school board. “…I’m assuming other BIPOC members feel like they’re less alone because they’re people that go through these experiences and when you’re able to teach it through the text, you’re able to teach people that don’t go through these experiences…they’re able to realize more about what happens and what goes on. And especially in schools too…everyone learns about the Civil Rights Movement but they don’t go into the hard details…or how it’s (racism) still continuing to go on.”

If readers want to support the students they are encouraged to sign the petition at: https://docs. google.com/forms/d/e/ 1FAIpQLScDJZfefXeQJGzz5aP2SF_ d5qW7Gzf2ZDePwXAa 11z0ldyQSw/viewform . Supporters are also urged to follow the initiative on Instagram (@diversifyournarratived833) and to spread the word to other South Washington County residents. In addition, high schoolers in Cottage Grove that are engrossed in joining the initiative, DON 833 is welcoming to new members. That student should [email protected] directly on Instagram for more information.