FARMINGTON—Kids in the Davis School District are sporting pins that say, “No More, Not Here” as part of a campaign aimed at ending racism. The district has also developed a series of videos with students talking about ways to handle hurtful words and actions. 

“The genesis of it came out around the first of November when we were hearing conversations asking, ‘What are you doing about the DOJ?’” said Assistant Superintendent John Zurbuchen. “The conversation came about because of the DOJ report but there’s nothing in the agreement that said we had to do this.”

The elementary and secondary directors, the existing equity department and our media folks worked together on how to introduce it to the kids, he said. “It mirrors a video put out by the Utah Jazz a couple of years ago. It’s anti-bias/anti-racism that says ‘I’ll be the one to stop this.’ It’s kids, not a bunch of adults.”

Bianca (Mittendorf), Caray (Long) and Dr. (Bernardo) Villar asked kids what they thought about it and put it in their words, said Zurbuchen. “The theme was Not Here, Not Ever. But that wasn’t true. It is here. To say not ever that’s a lie. We want to be going forward, not be in the past.”

The first video came out in January, he said. “There will be one on the second Monday of every month on a different topic to teach kids skills to use in different situations.”

There are elementary and secondary school videos, said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Thompson. “I talked to a fourth grade teacher who played the video and had a discussion with her students. She said there was amazing student discussion and it was encouraging and inspiring to her.”

Thompson said they didn’t put a logo on it so any district can use it. “We’ve heard from districts throughout the state and also Texas, the Midwest and the East. They love it and want to use it.”

Some parents expressed concern that they’d like to be able to talk to their kids before they see the videos, said Zurbuchen. “We have made it available 24 hours before it’s shown on Monday.”

It has been well received, said Thompson. “The students are using these skills from kindergarten on up. The teachers are doing a great job giving them the tools and skills to address these issues appropriately.”

Next fall they plan to do something else, she said. “We’ll build upon it. I’m excited that students self edited these. It’s their authentic voices.”

“We have work to do,”  said Zurbuchen. “Here’s how we can do it together.” λ