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Alexis Campos and fellow juniors at Lafayette鈥檚 have a big dream: They want their school to offer an ethnic studies course dedicated to exploring culture, identity, race and ethnicity.

Now, with the help of students and staff in CU Boulder鈥檚 Public Achievement program and administrators at , they鈥檙e getting closer to seeing that vision become a reality. This spring, the students began developing a curriculum for the first-of-its-kind social studies elective class, with hopes of launching it at Centaurus and districtwide in 2023.

Supporters believe the new class is BVSD鈥檚 first and only course to take a generalized approach to ethnic studies. By adding it, the district joins a growing number of states and districts across the country that are diversifying their curriculum.

鈥淚 want people to have a better sense of who they are and how their culture brings different aspects to their identity,鈥� said 17-year-old Campos. 鈥淚 love the idea of being able to see people who look like me, sound like me, talk like me. It鈥檚 a great way to create a sense of community where anybody can come together and speak about similarities or things that make them unique.鈥�

The student-led initiative stemmed from discussions with undergraduate coaches and staffers through Public Achievement or PA, a youth civic engagement and community organizing program that each year brings together more than 250 BVSD students and 100 CU Boulder undergraduates to explore issues such as social justice, immigration, equity and racism.

Students split off into teams to brainstorm, develop, research and implement a community-based project. Teams at Centaurus and , also in Lafayette, meet each Friday to work on their projects.

鈥淲hether it happens within their time in PA or later, the program helps give students an understanding and a knowing that their voice, their agency, their experiences have inherent value,鈥� said Soraya Latiff, CU Boulder鈥檚 assistant program director. 鈥淭hey can actually create and change important things.鈥�

The national program was developed at the University of Minnesota (now at Augsburg College) in 1990 by Harry Boyte, a former field secretary for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.. CU launched its PA program鈥攑art of CU Engage, a community-based learning and research center within the School of Education鈥攊n partnership with BVSD and the in 2008.

Many BVSD students become involved with PA while they鈥檙e in middle school and continue through high school. Some Centaurus juniors involved in the program first began contemplating the ethnic studies course idea in seventh grade 鈥� many identify as Black, Indigenous or other students of color, and they felt that existing classes were not adequately representing their cultures.

Though the district currently offers a course that covers the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and modern race relations, the students wanted to explore other identities, too, and focus on more joyful aspects of culture, including dance, food and the arts.

With encouragement from PA and an introduction to district leaders, those discussions are now shifting to action.

鈥淓ngaging young people is so important because we鈥檙e the ones who are going to be living through the changes that are happening right now, but we aren鈥檛 necessarily the people with the formal decision-making authority,鈥� said Dani Lee, a CU Boulder junior and one of the undergraduate coaches working with the Centaurus students on the course. 鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 so empowering is that adults are listening to us and to our students.鈥�

Local action fueling a national movement

Universities first began offering ethnic studies programs In recent years, the curriculum has been expanding , with California, Oregon, Indiana, Connecticut, Vermont and Washington legislatures voting to require ethnic studies curriculum in high schools and, in some cases, elementary schools. Beyond that, many individual school districts are also adding ethnic studies courses.

has linked ethnic studies courses with , higher and better academic performance, among other outcomes.

The students are now working with Lynn Gershman (AmSt鈥�95), the school district鈥檚 director of academic services, to determine how they鈥檇 like to structure the course, what they鈥檇 like it to cover and who they鈥檇 like to teach it.

鈥淚 love the idea of students advocating for what they want to learn,鈥� said Gershman, who, while attending CU Boulder in the 1990s, majored in American studies, the closest major to ethnic studies offered at the time (CU Boulder created its ethnic studies program in 1994).

The will need to approve the class, a step that Gershman hopes can be accomplished in late fall so the Centaurus students can enroll in the course for spring semester of their senior year.

With board approval, the course will go into BVSD鈥檚 official course catalog, which means any high school in the district can offer it, Gershman said.

For students like Campos, that鈥檚 confirmation that their voices鈥攁nd their actions鈥攔eally do matter.

鈥淚t really doesn鈥檛 matter how young you are, if it鈥檚 something you really care about and you really want to see change, it doesn鈥檛 take somebody who鈥檚 much older or much more mature than you 鈥� it really just takes you and your voice to accomplish something,鈥� he said.

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