As a then-freshman looking to get involved in social justice and community work, Evanston Township High School senior Anna Grant-Bolton joined ETHS Emerge.
The program allowed her to participate in communication, leadership and intersectionality workshops before working with a group of peers to tackle a specific issue in the community. After deciding what to focus on, the group of students then gets paired with an Evanston organization working toward the same goal.
In an effort to address educational inequities in Evanston, Bolton, along with ETHS seniors Meena Sharma and Ana Sweeney, were paired with Cradle to Career Engagement Director Kimberly Holmes-Ross to start the Student Advocates program.
Evanston Township High School students are continuing to educate the Evanston community and press on racial equity in the city, even as they say the momentum behind last summer’s wave of antiracism action has fizzled.
Since the police killing of George Floyd last spring, ETHS senior Mika Parisien has been working as a board member of both Students Organized Against Racism and Evanston Fight for Black Lives.
Through these organizations, Parisien is leading equity workshops to discuss antiracism, at her school and at other Evanston schools. EFBL has also met with City Council, organized protests and redistributed donations through a mutual aid fund.