Teachers and students attended the Anti-Oppression Training led by Roots of Justice on March 12. Everyone taking part in the training wanted to gain understanding and have a better perspective on racism by the end of the day.

“All of us think that we are not racist, and there are so many hidden ways of being racist, so many things in the culture and in the community that you do not even realize,” German teacher Nan Bergen said.

“I think there are so many ways that we don’t realize what people of color are going through and this training helped with that a lot.”

Junior Quinn Rhodes was one of the many students who attended the training and feels as though when it comes to interacting with one another this training was very beneficial.

“People are very uneducated and racist, and I think it is important for people to learn to try and love people regardless of their skin color, their culture or anything about them that might cause you to have a prejudice,” Rhodes said.

Members of the Students for Racial Justice club attended the training including freshman Natalie Kuhn. These students attended to not only gain greater knowledge, but to be able to help others’ knowledge of racism expand as well.

“We want to be educated so that we are not spreading something that is not truthful because that is just another problem,” Kuhn said.

Teachers interact with the same students every day, but most do not know what that student may be going through outside the walls of the school. Bergen, attended the training in hopes to gain more perspective for her students.

“For me that’s not a racial issue but I think it has helped me see that I have no idea where my students are coming from no matter what their skin color is and I have even less idea when it comes to people of color,” Bergen said.

The consensus of all those in attendance is the same when it comes to recommending this event to others.

“It is 2018 and we need to have a voice. What better way to learn than this training,” sophomore Devin Roberson.