Student Council is currently working with Roosevelt High School in South Dallas to organize a “student-swap day” in which a select group of students will be attending each other’s schools with the goal of learning more about each other. The experience will be filmed and used to examine cultural differences and similarities in Dallas communities, and work to bring people together beyond these barriers.

The idea for the school swap was born after last year’s 2nd Annual Race To End Racism forum held at SMU. The forum, organized by Highland Park Student Council, invited Student Councils from all over Texas from different backgrounds to have candid small-group conversations about cultural differences. Groups, year by year, have been tasked to come up with ways to combat bigotry in our schools. Highland Park Student Council Executive Parliamentarian, Rachel Rogers, was excited about the continuation of this forum. “I’m just excited that we are able to have an opportunity like this, not many people do” said Rachel. After a successful second year, a partnership with a south-Dallas school, Roosevelt High School, spurred conversation about ways to move forward in the future. Leading up to the third Race to End Racism forum in early 2018, the two student councils have worked to plan the event, and came up with the “school-swap” idea in the process.

With this event, Student Council students from Highland Park High School and Roosevelt High School will swap lives for a day to get a sense of what life is like in different areas and in schools with different cultural makeups. Student Council Executive Treasurer, Patrick Walker, described the event as a “great way to see things from a different perspective” and Student Council Sponsor, John Hinton, hopes that it will “bring a larger conversation into Highland Park ISD and beyond about cultural differences and respect.”

The group plans to release a video documenting their unique experience to share with the school and beyond, with the hopes in uniting everyone beyond race, culture, and other differences. For more information regarding this or the third annual Race to End Racism and how to get involved, visit Student Council’s Facebook page, facebook.com/HPHSstuco.