GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After any one of the tragedies at our schools across the state and country, adults continue their search for answers, often while bickering about the best way to solve our problems.
It can be hard to cut through all the noise when everyone wants their voice heard. However, maybe we're not listening to the right people.
In Grand Rapids, a small group of students at City High Middle School isn't waiting for everyone else to figure it out.
"In our experiences, we have found that if we don't take the initiative to just do it to get it done, then it gets pushed on the back burner a lot," said Grace Powers, a senior at City High.
Naiara Tamminga and Lucy Powers, who are both freshman, along with Lucy's older sister Grace, met at protests last summer.
Naiara brought up the idea of creating the group called "Be the Change."
They've met once a week since the beginning of the school year. With the guidance of a senior, the two freshman now lead a group of students with one goal in mind.
"A big part of why we wanted to start it was because it's like, we want it to be bigger than just you. We want you to feel like you're a part of something," said Naiara. "And something that is truly making change, not like, not just what society wants to see, but like we truly want to see. And because it's gonna affect the way we live our lives."
While a big focus has been school safety, they have other projects.
After a meeting on immigration, the group had the idea to display flags on the first floor of the school, showcasing countries around the world and representing the whole student body.
New QR codes in the bathrooms help facilitate the submission of concerns and student body issues to the administration.
On Tuesday, they began a mission of creating 900 encouraging notes, with the goal of brightening someone's day.
Despite all these other initiatives, the reality of school shootings is in the back of their minds. While they can't say for sure what effect the 900 encouraging notes will have, the group does know they've affected chances at the school when it comes to security.
In the wake of the shooting at Michigan State, which left four college students dead, the group drafted a letter to the school's administration calling attention to particular safety issues.
The principal responded by sitting down with the group.
Now, there's a more attentive front office staff watching surveillance cameras, while more diligently screening guests at the door. More importantly, they say their group can now show the rest of the student body that there's an open line of communication with adults they might have previously found intimidating.
"You can talk to administration, and they will listen, and they will actually make change," Grace said. "And it's not this huge, scary big deal thing that some people can make it out to be."
Moving forward, they say they're more at ease within the walls of a school where they spend most of their time.
Lucy said, "I think that especially after the conversation with our principal, being able to see the [effect] that we had gives us comfort."
The group does have a teacher with them, who advocates for them if needed. However, if you ask her, they could be completely independent.
"I'm so proud of everybody that comes to this club and all of the work that they've put in and just, you know, seeing how much change actually has come from this group is incredible," said Hannah Burchi, the Faculty Advisor and social studies teacher. "Hopefully, we'll be able to reach outside of just our building and, you know, maybe see some change and other schools in the district as well."
Screenshots of an email from Be The Change can be found below:
