On Thursday October 19th, 2023, EDI Student Summit hosted a field trip at Sabino High School from 9am to 2 pm. The field trip had 5 different TUSD high schools there including Sahuaro, Tucson High, Rincon, Pueblo High School, and Catalina High School. Sahuaro’s group was led by Ms. Good, CEO of Black Student Union and Unified in Color.  When students arrived, they received drawstring backpacks with goodies in them. All schools then reported to Sabino’s auditorium to check in and watch the opening ceremony which consisted of multiple different speakers and performers including Love and Hip Hops Young Me, Sensai, Jhonny Tsunami, Grafh, and more. I think this was a great way to kick off the day — it was a lot of good energy along with the entertainment.

At 9:50 students headed to their first session of three. Sahuaro’s first session was held in Sabino’s gymnasium’ it had attributes similar to a Job and Career Fair but also included other inclusive booths for minorities including Mexican Americans, African Americans, and the LGBTQ Community. There were various different local colleges attending as well including The U of A, NAU, ASU, and Pima College. The conversations held were enlightening and beneficial. They provided valuable information regarding our different options after graduating.

After session one, we headed to our second session at 10:50, where we were given a very powerful motivational presentation by Chaz Jackson. Chaz led his presentation in an engaging way asking students to repeat “Triple L” After him standing for “Live Learn Lead powerfully“. I think Chaz made everybody feel very motivated to keep pushing even if we feel like giving up and to never let any hardship keep us from reaching our potential. We went around the room and said what we wanted to be when we grew up and Chaz left us with the advice: “The pain of your past will be the fuel of your future”. When asking what students’ main takeaway was from Chaz’s presentation was, I got things like “he was very inspirational” (Junior Gianna Buxenbaum) and ” his speech was very enjoyable and uplifting” (Senior Lucas Nyabaya).

Our next session was another presentation, this time by Andres Ruiz called “The Blueprint on How to Turn Goals into Achievements for Students“. Andres led his presentation by talking about the importance of writing down goals and how much more likely they are to be accomplished when written down. He had us write down our goals and go around and share if we wanted, handing out candy to those who did. Andres also spoke about maintaining a growth mindset. He said there are 3 steps to having a growth mindset: “Get around people ahead of you, be comfortable being uncomfortable, and failure is not the enemy.” (Ruiz) We also played an interactive game with balloons during this session. Overall, this session was very motivational and inspirational as well.

After session 3 everyone headed to lunch. I think it was nice to see all the students from the different high schools talking and getting to know one another. After lunch, everybody headed back to the auditorium where we took part in our last event of the day, a performance by Charlieonafriday. They also chose 3 students during this time to reward with money. This was an exciting moment for those who were chosen and those who witnessed.

This field trip was a great experience and I am grateful to have been a part of it. I left with some valuable insight on how I want to carry myself into adulthood as well as all the different options and people I can look to for help. When asking Ms. Good, the field trip’s chaperone, her thoughts, she says, “The EDI Summit was an awesome opportunity to see our Cougars display their leadership and positivity.”