LA Upstander: Ms. Jessica Guillaume
Ms. Guillaume has been an Upstander in the Valor Academy High School school community by volunteering to lead in-person small groups this Spring 2020.
Student Essay: Why I No Longer Hide My Rainbow
This student essay captures a gay student’s experience navigating the challenges inherent in being visible as a gay person, as well as the responsibility to honor the sacrifices of movement leaders past by being visible today.
Student Essay: Congratulations! It's a Mockingbird
This award-winning student essay captures a transgender student’s experience reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and how it intersects with their own experiences of gender and hopes of social change.
How to Be an Upstander: 5 Tips for Civic Dialogue in an Online World
In this short piece, Dr. Cara Berg Powers offers 5 easy strategies to help people have respectful conversations on the internet.
How to Be an Upstander: How to Find Your Civic Superpower
This piece offers a number of ideas for getting involved in one’s community and beginning to pinpoint areas where we are each best poised to make an impact.
Becoming an Upstander
Brian Fong shares his personal journey to becoming an upstander on a recent episode of the “Language Alchemy” podcast.
Upstander Story: Memphis Students Unite Their Community 100 Years after a Lynching
This piece describes the student-led activist group Students Uniting Memphis’s effort to gather 500 community members to commemorate the life of lynching victim Ell Persons, and bring awareness to the injustices that occur when we divide people into “us” vs. “them.”
Turning Point: the Anniversary of Kristallnacht and Why We Remember
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) is a violent moment in history that demonstrates the consequences of both targeted hate and passivity from bystanders.
Upstander Story: 5 Questions for Pulitzer-Winner Sonia Nazario
In this interview, author Sonia Nozario discusses immigration, reporting during times of conflict, and the power young people have to shape our world for the better.
How to Be an Upstander: Four Guiding Principles for Difficult Conversations
This piece outlines four pillars that can help us navigate challenging discussions in the classroom.
Student Essay: Talking with Water Balloons
This award-winning student essay captures a Chinese-American student’s experience of building community across linguistic barriers.