The Peer Educators completed the 2020-21 academic year with three weeks of community outreach centered around mental health awareness, No Place for Hate, and Students Against Destructive Decisions. With the guidance of the current co-heads, S. Lagarde ’21 and Z. Szeman ’21, the Peer Educators brought awareness to the previously mentioned initiatives through Morning Meeting presentations, programming during lunch, and collaborating with various on campus clubs and organizations.
While the School operated in a hybrid schedule, the Peer Educators continued their monthly meetings and training online to prepare to teach grades 5 through 9. This group of students showed resilience, dedication and enthusiasm throughout the entire school year despite never being together in the same physical space with their students or classmates. The Peer Educators were able to celebrate their accomplishments at their final training of the school year in person and welcomed 26 new Peer Educators to the program.
The incoming co-heads, G. Funes ’22 and E. Moss ’22, shared their vision for the upcoming year. “Peer Ed has the capability to be a program where we can educate and speak on the issues of the all diasporas of our community, creating what could be some of the biggest impacts we have seen,” Funes said. “The spaces for intersectionality will continue through our curriculum and the community. We hope to continue our anti-bias work with the BIPOC community and No Place for Hate Week in the years to come, with collaboration with other sectors of our community. Along with destigmatizing ideas around mental health, Peer Ed in the 2021-22 school year will shine a light on diversifying our curriculum to align with Dana Hall’s values. We cannot wait for all of you to experience it with us!”