Student Programs
The unifying goal of our diversity efforts is to help prepare our students for the future—for their futures. Our students learn by doing. They lead a variety of Burroughs clubs and activities that seek to generate discussion and education as well as participate in local and national programs and conferences on diversity, leadership and global awareness.
The unifying goal of our diversity efforts is to help prepare our students for the future—for their futures. Our students learn by doing. They lead a variety of Burroughs clubs and activities that seek to generate discussion and education as well as participate in local and national programs and conferences on diversity, leadership and global awareness.
Diversity ETC (Diversity Education Through Communication)
Spectrum
Asian Culture Club
Bridges Towards Equity & Justice
Aim High St. Louis
GYLI (Global Youth Leadership Insitute)
National Student Diversity Leadership Conference
The Give Respect - Get Respect Youth Program
Anytown Summer Leadership Institute
In the larger context…
Currently on Campus…
Diversity ETC(Diversity Education Through Communication) is the student organization which serves as the clearinghouse for diversity discussions about all of the social identifiers. The club is responsible for connecting discussions from meetings and in affinity groups to the entire school community.
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Spectrum promotes a safe learning school environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students, free of mocking taunts, physical intimidation and other forms of discrimination that would obstruct a student's ability to focus on his or her studies.
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Asian Culture Club promotes Asian culture and language within our school community with a priority on creating an open diverse atmosphere to discuss Asian culture, politics and ideas. The ACC seeks to embrace and share Asian culture while reminding all that ethnicity should not be a polarizing factor in our community.
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Bridges Towards Equity & Justice seeks to create an inclusive community by cultivating understanding through communication. Small diverse groups meet regularly in social settings to discuss whatever is on their minds—from a heated current event to a best seller. This program is premised on the belief that with increased awareness and appreciation of differences and commonalities, fear and ignorance diminish, and with them, prejudice. This student program is modeled after the nationally recognized Bridges Across Racial Polarization program. A number of JBS parents also participate in Bridges groups.
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Aim High St. Louis is a tuition-free academic enrichment program for fifth- through eighth-grade students from low-income neighborhoods. Once accepted into the program, students participate for at least four years, enabling them to take full advantage of a comprehensive curriculum which has a long-term impact on their future. Each summer and throughout the school year, more than 40 JBS students volunteer their time as teaching assistants. We host a pre-program training that focuses on cultural competency and understanding the students we serve. This is further enhanced by mini-trainings two days of each week during the summer program. These become prime opportunities to engage JBS students in significant aspects of diversity work.
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And Beyond Campus…
GYLI (Global Youth Leadership Insitute) is a three-year curriculum anchored by intensive summer residencies and workshops during the academic year in which students and faculty sponsors participate. In collaboration with Harvard University’s Pluralism Project, GYLI’s mission is to nurture leadership for global communities and to assist schools in their mission to educate socially responsible young people. Participating schools send teams of two to four students with one faculty sponsor on week-long summer projects based on schooners in the Great Lakes and/or the North Atlantic and land-based operations in New Mexico and Costa Rica.
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National Student Diversity Leadership Conference, sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools for upper school students, is held simultaneously with the People of Color Conference for teachers and administrators. The annual student conference is a multiracial, multicultural gathering of more 600 student leaders (grades 9-12). It focuses on the development of self-identity, the search for community spirit and the development of student leadership for equity and justice. Led by a diverse team of adult facilitators, participants develop effective cross-cultural communication skills, practice expression through the arts and learn networking principles and strategies.
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The Give Respect - Get Respect Youth Program, sponsored by Edward Jones, is a yearlong anti-bias program administered during the school year. The program connects middle and high school students, their teachers/advisors and Edward Jones associates in an effort to address diversity and encourage respect and acceptance among peers/co-workers. Diversity training by the Anti-Defamation League's A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE INSTITUTE provides students with the tools to become leaders within their schools and help break down walls that separate students from each other.
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Anytown Summer Leadership Institute is a residential program in Jefferson City designed for high school students. Anytown students share their diverse cultures, ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds, develop valuable interpersonal skills and build their leadership capabilities. The institute gives careful and deliberate attention to one’s personal role and responsibility in the systems of oppression and provides means to expand personal awareness on issues of oppression using experiential learning. Anytown is sponsored by The National Conference for Community and Justice (St. Louis).
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In the larger context…
Our student programs specific to diversity exist in the context of a larger collaboration of student activities focusing on service and global awareness, such as
- our extensive local community service programs;
- our internationally oriented efforts such as Amnesty International and clubs dedicated to aiding Darfur refugees and providing microfinancing to undeveloped sectors; and
- our participation in the International Model United Nations at The Hague, the International Student Exchange Committee (formerly AFS), and other language/cultural groups.


