Students share King's dream

Thursday, January 18, 2007

By Melanie Stein

    Unlike many adults who reveled in a long weekend, many of Jackson Hole’s youth commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by honoring the man and the mission and acknowledging that discrimination still exists in our town and country.
Students at the Jackson Hole Community School organized “March for Tolerance 2007,” inviting other schools and the entire community to take part.
    Over 70 high school students from two valley schools, teachers, parents and community members marched from the Home Ranch parking lot to the Town Square. Students carried banners and signs, walking peacefully along the sidewalks. Drivers honked in support, frequently rolling down the window in sub-zero temperatures to cheer and give a thumbs up.
    Community School junior Zeke Trautenberg volunteered to speak on the important day.
    “I wanted to be provocative and highlight this really important issue,” he said. “It was a great effort on the part of my school, and hopefully we’ll do it again next year.”
Trautenberg’s speech highlighted the heroic efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, whom he said “fought against the exception of freedom and justice” during his time.
Trautenberg noted the current immigration debate that has taken over the country and the contribution many legal and illegal immigrants have made in Jackson Hole. Perhaps most importantly, Trautenberg astutely pointed out that discrimination and social classes still prevail, but that each of us can make a difference by getting and staying “involved with our country, community and ourselves.”
    Following Trautenberg’s speech, Carmina Oaks and Mayor Mark Barron commented on the significance of the day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day to “celebrate progress and reflect on the shortcomings in our society,” Barron said. He reminded the students that Wyoming’s nickname is the Equality State, having first given women the right to vote in 1869 and being the first state to elect a female governor in 1923.
Barron emphasized that change starts in the heart, and that each person “can and will make a difference in this world.”
    “We wanted to have the march to honor Martin Luther King and to serve as a reminder of the importance of tolerance and diversity in our community,” said Tyler Hardy, Marketing and Admissions Director and a teacher at the Community School. “It was the students’ idea to celebrate the day in this way.”
    Melissa Gill and Emma Cohen, seniors at the Community School, said students had been planning the event for three weeks, watching clips from the film “Crash” and discussing discrimination in their home valley.
    “Discrimination does happen in Jackson,” Gill said, “whether people are consciously or subconsciously discriminating.”
    When invited to participate in the march, the Teton Science Schools’ Journeys School didn’t hesitate, as it was already planning an alternative school day.
“Historically, the Journeys School has tried to take this day and broaden it, finding creative ways to celebrate diversity, especially in our community,” said Charles Grayson, a teacher at the school and a member of the six-person committee that organized MLK observances. The middle and upper schools started the day by listening to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.
    Brandon Kapelow, a freshman at the Journeys School, said that participating in Monday’s march was critical in raising awareness of discrimination and stressing the need for tolerance, as this is the only way a democracy can work.
“I’ve seen some discrimination here,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s as bad as other places. In a small community, people know each other better and there is less.”


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Students share King's dream | Planet JH News Article: JH Community School

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