This story was shared by an NPS student.
Image ID: the background of images 1, 2, and 3 is orange (upper one-third) and purple (lower two-thirds), with a large white square with rounded corners overlaying and within that square, this story in purple font: “My story takes place on a snowy school day in February. I was walking down the hall of JFK middle school, dodging people who were jumping, shouting, running, and numbing into each other just like always. Since my last name begins with ‘A,’ my locker is at the very end of this chaos. There are three teachers standing by in the hallway. I cling to my binder, book, and water bottle and as I make my way through the crowd I notice a student being pushed against a nearby locker by another. The second student is laughing as though this is all a hilarious joke. The first on the other hand, who is a person of color, looks downright terrified. I inch by, because I don’t like to be involved in sixth grade drama. But I should have done something, because this isn’t just drama–it’s bullying. I see the bully’s mouth moving, but I don’t hear what is coming out until he says the N word. At that the bully lets go and the kid takes a few steps back as the bully laughs. And the very worst part of all of this is that the kid forces a laugh too. Because the bully says that they are friends. But I know that it’s a lie–real friends don’t treat each other like this. And good teachers don’t allow things like this.”
Image 4 has the same orange/purple split background, with the white text “STORY THEMES” running up the lower left side and two columns of white boxes (four per column) displaying our eight story themes. Here, the themes “emotional response” and “hurt & exclusion” are emphasized with bright/bold colors and the themes “whiteness,” “the future,” “actions & strategies” “race & identity,” “lack of understanding,” and “educational challenges” deemphasized with paler colors.
REAL 