Equity News

Westerville South High School junior Rodav Kalengayi is moving onto the state 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Oratorical Contest after recently winning the regional competition at Columbus College of Art and Design.

Wilder Elementary counselor Natalie Cross recognized a need for deeper conversations when she noticed fourth-grade girls struggling with conflicts this year. 

All of Cherrington Elementary embraced holiday giving this year. The Student Leadership Council organized the annual Ohio State vs. Michigan Food Drive, collecting 13 boxes that totaled 325 pounds of food for W.A.R.M.

Throughout the district, Westerville students and staff have raised thousands of dollars, collected hundreds of donations to support families in need during the holidays. 

“If you had 20 minutes to leave your home, and never see it again, what would you bring?”

Dr. Stephanie Power-Carter, professor at Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology, served as a guest lecturer this week at John Sands’ and Jen Bowers’ African-American Studies class at Westerville North High School.

Westerville Central High School students whose memoirs were published in the book, The Ones Among Us: Memoirs of Culturally Diverse Students in America, were recently part of a keynote presentation at the 2024 Ohio Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Conference in Lewis Center.

Hanby Elementary students got a taste of what fourth-graders are learning about with a school-wide sampling of Three Sisters Soup, a Native American recipe that includes three of the main indigenous crops of North America: corn, squash and beans. 

The student council at Walnut Springs Middle School kicked off its No Place for Hate campaign this week, building on their work from last year to build a safe and inclusive space for their school community.

Westerville Central High School kicked off a new initiative that gives students an interactive way to learn more about the different cultures and traditions of its diverse school community.

Families of students who are English learners have two opportunities to attend an EL Department parent meeting on Nov. 14: one at 9:30 a.m. and another at 6:30 p.m. Both will be held at the Early Learning Center, 936 Eastwind Drive. 

The Big Bus, a mobile classroom that provides academic help to Westerville City Schools elementary students, will now be able to expand its reach thanks to the newest addition to its fleet.

Leaders behind The Big Bus recently launched The Big Bus II — a retired transit bus that has been converted into a mobile classroom — to support WCSD middle and high school students in need of classroom support and services.

Mid-City Electric collected clothing, non-perishable food, gently-used coats and other items for clinics and care closets for schools across the district. 

As part of the kick-off Career Cafe at Minerva Park Middle School on Thursday, students got a glimpse of health care careers they didn’t know existed.

Fifth-graders at Alcott Elementary presented what they learned about early Native Groups, including the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Mississippian and Olmec, to family members on Friday. 

The Spanish lesson for third-graders at Robert Frost Elementary covered the same topic they’ve been learning about in language arts: the sea and the animals that call it home.

Westerville North High School hosted its third annual AllN Olympics on Thursday, where students with multiple disabilities across the district’s three high schools came together for an inclusive sporting event. WNHS athletes served as their support peers, running each event and helping the AllN Olympians through each activity.

Throughout the week, students at Walnut Springs Middle School have come to school in jerseys of their favorite Latino soccer players, dressed in shirts featuring colors of Latin American flags and worn socks and neon that reflect colors and/or patterns inspired by Latino cultures.

Members of Minerva Park Middle School boy’s cross country team lined up for the start of their inaugural home meet against Gahanna East High School on Tuesday. Eighth-grader Derek Zastudil joined his teammates with his sports aide at his side. 

A wall along Westerville Central High School’s mallway is home to a new mural that reflects the countries, backgrounds and cultures that make up the school’s student body.

The students in Jill Briscoe’s first-period language arts class at Minerva Park Middle School introduced themselves to a new seventh-grader on Wednesday, showing just how similar her story was to theirs.

The Westerville Central High School teacher who helped create a memoir project that recognizes the cultural diversity at the school was recently recognized in a City of Westerville proclamation honoring Hispanic Heritage Month.

Families whose students are English learners have two opportunities to attend the first EL Department parent meeting of the school year on Sept. 5: 9:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. at the Early Learning Center.