Canterbury Students Attend Diversity Conference at St. Luke’s School

On Sunday, April 7, a group of Canterbury students traveled to St. Luke’s School, CT to attend the 17th Annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). This year’s conference, Ripples of Change: Building Awareness and Taking Action, focused on how students can create an impact within their school communities by creating consciousness within their peers and building ways to implement action-oriented community plans. 

Canterbury students were joined by hundreds of peers from across the region as all engaged in cross-cultural communication to work toward developing effective strategies for social justice on high school campuses and beyond. Students were invited to listen to their peers discuss topics that affect them personally, ranging from colorism to LGBTQ+ identity, before dividing into breakout sessions to have closer conversations with facilitators.  

Several Upperform Canterbury students facilitated the breakout sessions, having participated in the conference in prior years. These students spent several weeks leading up to the conference in training to do so.

For the past 17 years, the SDLC has brought students and educators together for a day of self-reflection and community-wide growth. As noted by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) about the history and momentum of the conference, “The mission of the event is to bring students from grades 7-12 and adults from independent schools across the state together for a day of networking and dialogue, facilitating cross-cultural understanding and a call to action to improve our school communities and our world.”

Canterbury students presented on their experience at the conference at the School Meeting hosted on the proceeding Monday. All in attendance unanimously agreed that it was an incredibly worthwhile afternoon of learning and discussion.