ERASE Racism welcomes: Alli of Wellington C. Mepham High School, Cateyann of John Glenn High School, Mariah of Walter G. O'Connell High, Pooja of Herricks High School, and Serenity of Long Beach High School.
The interns begin with an intensive 6-week summer program with mentorship from ERASE Racism’s Program Coordinator Ian Lesnick. During this planning portion of the internship, students will:
- Study the patterns, history, and present-day manifestations of systemic racism throughout Long Island
- Create plans to elevate racial equity and inclusion in their schools and communities
- Learn how to launch advocacy and equity clubs, and how to bring advocacy and equity principles and initiatives to existing clubs and organizations
- Practice speaking to educators and administrators about racial justice concerns
- Engage in research projects, conduct interviews, and facilitate presentations about the ongoing impacts of Long Island’s history related to school and housing segregation, equitable curricula and education policies, and student activism.
During the school year, interns will implement their outreach plans to educate and engage fellow students. The goal is to deepen understanding of systemic racism for their peers, teachers, and administrators. They will also meet once a month to share the progress toward their goals and collaborate with each other to problem solve any difficulties that arise during the implementation phase of the internship with facilitation by ERASE Racism.
“It is important to look at this information through a variety of lenses,” commented Ian Lesnick. “The students in our program are able to learn about the history of Long Island as a whole as well as their community’s history on a more granular level. They begin to question how historical decisions and policies affect today’s realities and how current events also further exacerbate racial discrimination and segregation and what they, and their peers, can do to take meaningful action to make their communities more equitable”
The cohort of five Long Island public school students gathers for in-person facilitated sessions for group activities and shared learning. They also conduct independent research and prepare their workplan for the year.
“ERASE Racism is excited to offer this summer internship program for high school students,” said Elaine Gross, President of ERASE Racism. “Each intern brings a passion for racial justice and a unique experience. It’s inspiring and rewarding to see them embark on defining their own journeys to advance racial understanding and inclusion and appreciate the benefits of racial integration.”
“There is one very important aspect of this program that makes it quite unique,” remarked Elaine Gross. “The students have an intensive program with us during the summer that prepares them for work they will do during the school year in their district. This is more than an educational program with students for the summer that then ends.”
The summer internship was launched to help students turn their passion into action. Elaine explained, “We are nurturing student activism. We learned from our Student Task Force that students want to do more than educate themselves, but sometimes they don't know how to do that. Their work this summer will help prepare them to implement the action plans they are working on starting in the fall.”