Following the Board of Education of Harford County’s decision to lift the mask mandate in all Harford County Public Schools, non-academic clubs at North Harford could start meeting regularly after school again. This includes Voices of Equity, which has only been meeting during Hawks Soar throughout the duration of the restrictions.

     “During Hawks Soar meetings we have to keep moving because there’s a bell coming,” describes Mr. Michael James, one of the advisors for Voices of Equity. He believes that one of the best parts of being able to meet after school again is that there’s no time pressure from the impending school day.

     Junior Alyssa Dunn agrees with James. “I feel like we got some work done, but not at the same rate as when we also met on Wednesdays. If Hawks Soar was like an hour, it would be a lot better. 30 minutes is not a lot of time” She states.

       “If [the meetings] go on for five minutes after school, it’s no biggie. If it goes five minutes over during Hawks Soar, everybody’s late to class,” James explains. As a result, the advisor believes the Hawks Soar meetings tend to feel rushed. However, both Dunn and James noticed that more people attended these meetings, which made them happy.

     Shortly before the new restrictions were put in place, Voices of Equity delivered a presentation to faculty that built momentum for change. James explains that NH might be one of the first schools in the county to work on a system for reporting incidents specifically about hate speech.

     “We’re working out the kinks to get [the system] up and running so it’ll be a very ‘one direction’ way of reporting something compared to how it is now,” James continues. “I feel like students and faculty aren’t sure what to do when they want to report an incident, so hopefully this streamlines it so we can really teach people the impact of what they say”.

     The advisor believes that the new system won’t be a “punish and bring down the hammer” ordeal. He wants it to be another way to educate people that what they say matters, so they understand what they’re saying is not just a bad word. He wants students and staff to understand that slurs hurt people in ways that curse words don’t.

     The club has also been working on establishing connections. On March 2nd, Voices of Equity attended a meeting with The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). James believes the meeting went very well and states they discussed how they could help each other reach their goals. “We talked about tapping into their network of resources to use for any projects Voices of Equity wants to do, such as Public Service Announcement videos” James continues. 

     James believes the NAACP is a valuable ally to have because not only do they have Harford County resources, but they’re also part of “a huge national organization”. The advisor also explains that Voices of Equity was offered an opportunity to help an NAACP professor at Harford Community College collect interviews from senior citizens that lived in Harford County while it was still segregated. 

     Along with this project, Voices of Equity hopes to host another Day of Silence this year on April 22 and wants to provide senior members of the club with pins to wear at graduation. Dunn hopes that the club’s future plans also include projects about inclusivity, so students and staff alike realize “not everybody’s the same person, so they can’t exclude people because they’re different”.