For the first time in Ojai Valley School history, four students will take part in the NAIS Diversity Color Conference.
Ojai Valley School senior Donahi Soriano, junior Teni Aderibigbe, and sophomores Jessi Ponce Sanchez and Vincent Bell will attend the conference, scheduled for Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in St. Louis, MO. Sponsored by the National Assn. of Independent Schools, the conference aims to provide a safe space for leadership, development, and networking for people of color.
Donahi, who serves as the Student Council’s Diversity and Inclusion Representative, is eager to take advantage of the opportunity and to implement the skills she learns into her leadership role.
“I think it is a really great chance for me to be able to do more — not only learn more, but share my ideas as well,” Donahi said. “This is something where I can bring ideas to the table as well as take things in and learn from. I will be able to widen my knowledge overall.”
Will this event be the chance for OVS as a whole to widen diversity on the campus? Head of Upper Campus Craig Floyd said he hopes the color conference will do just that.
“I think what’s important is we are starting to see a more diverse community here at OVS than we have had,” Mr. Floyd said. “It is our goal to continue to grow that aspect of the campus. I think this conference will give us some great opportunities to see what is out there to grow and develop ourselves.”
Mr. Floyd wants the students he is sending to the conference to return and put into action the knowledge they receive.
While OVS has had some diversity in its school community as a result of the large number of international students who have attended, the school has lagged behind others in terms of recruiting and retaining students of color, although that has begun to change in recent years.
The diversity conference will help expand students’ knowledge on this topic as well as improve campus life all around.
Sophomore Teni Aderibigbe plans on either running for vice president or president of the student council next year. Although he does not plan on being the diversity and inclusion representative, Teni said if elected he wants to work with the person in that position to further the school’s diversity and inclusion goals.
“I think I can work with whoever the diversity representative is to create events regarding the conference,” Teni said. “I am looking forward to seeing a lot of other interactions between different ethnicities and affinities… because at OVS it is not as much of an occurrence.”