In only four days, Shorewood High School students of color formed life-long connections with almost a hundred students from across the state during a community-building program held at Carthage College.

The objective of the program, which was sponsored by the African American Youth Initiative, was to empower participants to connect and grow their leadership abilities. 

“[The program] was a different way for people of color around Wisconsin to connect with one another and also instill values within our communities,” said Kaymin Phillips, senior. “Making sure that we’re always sticking together and always helping one another, but it was also a way for us to grow closer to our culture and our identity as well as people of color.”

An opportunity that stood out for the students was meeting with health professionals and discussing the programs in their future.

“The older group went to the Milwaukee Medical College, and that was for people who were interested in going into the health field,” Phillips said. “They told us about their programs, even current programs and how [we] can interact and start now.”

Amanda Jamerson, associate principal, has been co-directing the program for around seven years.

“One [medical program] was where you could see all the germs on your hand, so it was really cool,” Jamerson said. “There was a CPR session. There was one simulation where it was a fake person actually on the bed, it was set up like a hospital room, and [the students] would have to ask the patients certain questions.” 

Near the end of the program, students were separated by grade, with each group going on a different excursion.

“My group went to Molson Coors and learned about how Black people influenced that business,” said Eva Cole, sophomore.

Along with the educational experience, students said they valued the focus on bonding and spending quality time together.

 “Inside Carthage, we went to their gym facility,” said Tristan Papara, senior. “[We] played basketball and volleyball. Everybody got to get along and just have fun.”

Cole says the connections made at the program were an important part of her personal development. 

“I grew more socially than anything, connecting with people and feeling more comfortable talking to other people,” Cole said. 

According to Jamerson, the camp was originally separated into gender groups, with boys and girls only becoming combined within the last few years. 

“The guys have been [there] at least eleven years, so the guys started before the girls,” Jamerson said. “The girls started roughly six to seven years ago.”

By opening the programs to both boys and girls, the program aimed to give students valuable new experiences and perspectives.

“We talked about relationships and how boys should be treating girls and how girls should be treating boys,” Phillips said. “So, I definitely like how you can get two points of views as well, and I feel like you grow closer with them.”

A familiar Shorewood guest-star paid a visit to the students at Carthage.

“Honestly, my biggest takeaway was probably when Mr. Quave Brown came,” Papara said. “He talked about differences, and how…we came from different places, we know different people, we’re living in different areas, but highlighted the fact that a lot of us have most of the same things in common. It’s almost like ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ because you might see one thing but deep down that person is really, really similar to you.”

Phillips also felt inspired by Brown.

“It’s a thing where Black men and Black women have to stick together because it’s always constant fighting and pitting each other against each other for no reason,” Phillips said. “Everybody just needs to stick together.”

At times, separation allowed the students to be vulnerable with each other.

“We split the boys and the girls, and it was like a heart-to-heart, open-up, and you could feel comfortable,” Papara said. “If I’m being real, a lot of the guys there cried. I cried. It was a strong evening and a sense of community and it’s hard to find elsewhere.”

Jamerson found there to be significant growth throughout the program.

“This year was extremely great in regards to where students felt like by the end of the week, understanding their own emotions they finally felt like they could actually be themselves,” Jamerson said.. “A lot of them talked in the post-survey about advocacy and understanding that they have to advocate for themselves.”

Papara hopes to kick senior year off using the skills he gained from the camp.

“There’s probably a hundred kids from everywhere in Wisconsin that you don’t know, and you had three days to get to know people.” Papara said. “So, using that, I went in confident using that to get to know everybody that I could, and I’m hoping I could use that to get to know new people and help people around the school.”