Commitment to Diversity
School Vision Statement:
“Green Level High School is dedicated to cultivating an equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive environment that promotes self-discovery and fosters the realization of every student’s potential.”
School News' Mission Statement:
“The Gator’s Eye strives to provide the Green Level High School community with fair and accurate coverage of events, issues, and individuals impacting our school, our city, our nation, and our world. We seek to inform, enlighten, and entertain."
Student journalism, especially in schools with rich, diverse cultural backgrounds, has to be representative. If something impacts a single student, it impacts all of us; therefore, it deserves coverage. Green Level High School prides itself on fostering a diverse, welcoming environment. With students from 42 countries, speaking 47 separate languages at home, our coverage needs to be as inclusive and representative as possible.
As a Pakistani-American woman, I know what it’s like to feel underrepresented in the media. I grew up watching the news and entertainment looking for people like me, hearing about issues from my family that were never discussed in school, and feeling my heart jump when I found an author with a Pakistani surname or an artist donning a hijab. We cannot measure the importance of unbiased, inclusive coverage. I found my voice through writing. Now, I use my words to amplify voices that aren't heard on their own.
Through Design:
I’ve made multiple graphics designed to highlight different cultural celebrations and events on a school and global level. We must show solidarity and support towards all students and their beliefs, so I take the time to make these designs to accompany articles and announcements. This way, we have an image to post instead of relying on just site traffic to give these events the attention they deserve. Each graphic was posted on Instagram and shared multiple times by students and staff.
Through Coverage:
The events and students I feature with The Gator’s Eye are an attempt to represent as many people as possible. I occasionally have student organizations that approach me asking for a feature, such as with the Junior State of America and Rhizome. Most of the time, however, I reach out to students making significant differences in our community, such as the Black Student Union.
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We’ll cover school events like homecoming while giving coverage to issues like gun violence walkouts. Even casual topics, such as discussing student plans over spring break, are written with the intent to represent the entire student population. That article pulled from students in various grades with various cultural and personal identities.
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Many of my more opinionated pieces also revolve around inclusion and diversity, such as my piece on “forced diversity” in media. The article, inspired by the controversial casting of Leah Jeffries in the Percy Jackson reboot, followed the ongoing debate around casting people of color as originally white characters. Writing about affirmative action in Chapel Hill was a way to highlight diversity in education because it affects every student in our area. These subjects deal with race, class, and prejudice, all of which play a part in our lives. We have to talk about these issues, and we can start those conversations with our writing.
Through Underrepresented Topics:
Diverse reporting is more complex than just featuring various races and ethnicities. There are also broader topics. In our school, I’ve found that despite the outstanding performances and pieces created by art students, their work gets a fraction of the coverage even our worst athletic teams receive. Although that may not seem as important as the topics discussed above, highlighting the arts is one way I can personally connect with students and have them feel heard across the school.
During my sophomore year (virtual), athletics were inactive. Students found creative outlets to release their emotions. I discovered our school’s chorus wasn’t letting distance interrupt their music. I met a dozen brilliant artists to feature every week, some of which are now studying at SCAD or Parsons.
Our visual arts program is especially strong–our school dominated the national Scholastic Arts and Writing awards this year. I knew that if, for example, the football team did that well in a game, it would be all anyone would be talking about. Yet nobody knew about these. So, of course, I wrote about it.
The Gator’s Eye represents ALL of Green Level High School. The artists, the athletes, the musicians, the academics… everyone deserves to see their diverse accomplishments highlighted.
With Chuck Stone:
Last summer, I was admitted into the Chuck Stone Program for Diversity in Media. The program honored diverse student voices in journalism and helped marginalized individuals hone their skills. The 12 of us Chuck Stone Scholars resided on the UNC Chapel Hill campus and learned about writing, broadcast, and photography. Those few days made me realize just how deep my passion for journalism was. I not only enjoyed broadening my horizons and journalistic knowledge, but also had a fantastic time connecting with the other students.
One aspect of the program was writing features on the random student assigned to us. I wrote mine about my now-friend Noreen and her accomplishments with the Girl Scouts. All of us scholars wrote our features in a computer lab together, which meant we ended up reading each other's work. Amidst the constructive criticism and blooming praise, there was a sense of community developing as we realized how much our diverse voices contributed to the conversations. Among our differences, we found similarities we’d never expected.
I went into the program with a respect for diverse reporting. I left it understanding just how crucial it is to a team and a piece. The ideals instilled during that summer followed me into the school newsroom this year and will continue to follow me throughout my life.