The trip to the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference in North Carolina for six of our Upper School students was memorable for the friendships they made and insights they gleaned — and for the many side trips they took, too.
The students who attended the two-day conference at Carolina Friends School in Durham, N.C., were juniors Bea Fisher Guerra, Chris Liang and Margaret Silbaugh and sophomores Cady Tran, Sophia Perkins and Cole Lewis. Margaret Guerra, All-School History Department Chair, and Toni Graves Williamson, Assistant Head of School for Equity and Inclusion, accompanied the students.
This Week asked Cole to write about the conference, and here is an excerpt from his report:
“I think QYLC was an enjoyable experience for two main reasons: One, it was very fun, with plenty of tours, social time and Southern food, including hush-puppies; and two, it was incredibly insightful — we learned about love, about stewardship, about injustice and how to stop it, about other peoples’ stories, and, as Carolina Friends School says in its Mission Statement, that ‘it is possible to change the world.’”
Cole also wrote about the messages he “definitely took away” from the speakers at a panel discussion and attending Meetings for Worship.
“The theme of the conference was storytelling, so they had each of the panelists tell their stories, and how they had gotten to that point. They all had such interesting stories! One was a high-achieving student and Dreamer; another was a lawyer who defends protesters, and a third was an Iranian-American who is ‘radically pacifist,’ in his words, who talked to us about the importance of love and compassion when trying to maintain and encourage peace.
“All of what the panel had to say was very helpful, but it was also helpful attending the Meetings for Worship, as we were able to see how other schools conduct their Meetings, and hear their stories as well.”
Margaret said the students made the most of the trip, paying visits to Guilford College, Duke University and the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, which was marking the 58th anniversary of the famous sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. At the museum, the students were fortunate to meet Joseph O’Neill, who was one of the four young black men who sat down at the whites-only counter on February 1, 1960, and refused to leave. That act of civil disobedience was a landmark moment in what evolved into the Civil Rights movement.
At the conference itself, Margaret praised the keynote and musical performance by Pierce Freelon, who described his work with children in Durham, Haiti, Ethiopia and other places around the world. Pierce, an artist, musician and community organizer, encouraged the students to “grow where you’re planted.”
All of the AFS students led workshops, and felt they learned a lot and provided energy and support to those who attended their seminars, she said.
“I love the QYLC teacher community, which is a mix of regular attenders and new people,” Margaret said. “I gain strength and insight from them, but I also feel renewed appreciation for our school.
“Many of my colleagues from other schools described feeling alone or limited in their ability to carry out their school’s Quaker mission, whether it was in terms of Meeting, or social justice or other issues. I could honestly say that there isn’t anything that comes up at QYLC that wouldn’t receive enthusiastic support from a wide variety of colleagues. I never feel alone here,” Margaret said.
She added that she was especially grateful that Toni co-chaperoned the trip this year, telling the AFS delegation such great stories stemming from her North Carolina background and introducing students to many people.
