This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Robin River Helps Students Become Leaders and Promote Acceptance

Not only has Robin River had a long career teaching, but she’s also helping the Diversity Team at North Haven High School grow and thrive, saying it’s exciting to watch kids who may be quiet and shy at first be able to talk in front of a crowd of other students.

Robin is a special education teacher at the high school, working with students with learning disabilities predominantly in the 9th- and 10th grades. She has several skills classes and also teaches two self-contained English classes, and she is in her 30th year of teaching.

“It’s been a great run,” Robin says.

For about seven years, she has been a moderator/advisor for the high school’s Diversity Team. Having been involved with other clubs previously, Robin took over after the previous person in charge of the club had left, and renamed it from Diversity Club to Diversity Team.

Robin was attracted to the group because she saw a need for kids to feel like they belong and are accepted.

“We have a really good school, but we need to just make sure that all students feel like this is their school and they have ownership, they feel supported,” Robin says.

The team conducts a lot of activities around the school, such as chalk drawings with welcoming messages at the entrance of the high school on the first day of school (with which she helped the kids this year) and Ally Week where they have a banner signing and students pledge to show their acceptance of others.

“We try and find really small, but impactful ways to reach out to the school community,” Robin says.

Since she’s been involved, Robin says a growth and focus of the team has been conferences. Several years ago, Yale was doing research on social-emotional learning with a country-wide study of how students felt in school.

Using that research, Robin says she and the Diversity Team took action in the parts that were pointed out to them in North Haven High School. She says the data was critical in showing how the team could help.

In 2015, the top five words students associated with the high school were “tired, stressed, bored, happy, and annoyed.” In 2016, it changed to “tired, stressed, comfortable, respected, and supported,” according to Yale’s data.

While she says it’s not just the Diversity Team’s activities that helped change those student’s feelings, noting other student groups and faculty that contribute, Robin says “we are one factor in changing that.”

Robin helps the team members work on presentations for Diversity Day, which is when team members present their ideas to other students. Members choose issues important to them as teens to promote acceptance, and formulate ideas of what to say starting around December, with the presentations taking place in April.

In October, they take those same presentations and invite other schools from around the state to North Haven to give those presentations. The fourth annual state conference takes place Friday, Oct. 27.

The Diversity Team is also a part of inspirED, a joint effort between Yale and Facebook that provides activities and tools for students and educators to work together and create positive changes in schools.

“Last October, Facebook flew…myself and five students to Facebook headquarters because we were a pilot school and we demonstrated a positive impact,” Robin says.

One of the students has a blog on the inspirED website, and one of the activities the team created called the “I Wonder” Ball is featured on there as well. Robin says this year, the program is expanding with a mentorship program to make sure other schools are implementing the ideas from the conference in October.

Robin says it’s so exciting to see the growth of the students and being able to see them turn into leaders when they speak in front of the conference.

“I love working here because the environment is so welcoming and accepting and positive—the kids and faculty,” Robin says.

She says she’s always wanted to be involved to help others, saying that even in high school she was involved with peer tutoring and after school activities.

“It’s exhausting and rewarding,” Robin says with a laugh.

Robin says that a recent graduate is going to speaking at a panel in Nashville, Tennessee because of the work he did with the team, adding that she gets a great deal of satisfaction out of seeing the students grow and evolve into leadership roles. Robin says promoting student leadership is a main function of the team.

“Any student who wants to be involved and wants a leadership position, I’ll create it, I’ll get you there, let you be a leader,” Robin says.

She also wanted to thank the administration, parents, and her peers for their support of the team’s efforts and student’s involvement.