Step Into the Circle: Breaking Down Barriers With Trust

Sunday, April 13. 4:00pm-5:30pm. Shaw Room.

Description 

Participate in an interactive workshop where honesty, trust, and identifying with experiences are the core of the activity that promotes compassion and builds trust and community, breaking stereotypes and helping to show that we are all interconnected.

In this activity we read a list of statements and if they apply to you, you step into the circle (silently). Questions range from topics and experiences pertinent to youth; they build in intensity. The activity is about honesty and identifying with experiences; it relies on trust of all participants. This activity promotes compassion because of the vulnerable situation people are putting themselves into by opening up to complete strangers or even close friends. It builds trust and community by breaking stereotypes and helping to show that no one is alone.

Presenter Bio 

Students from CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), Garfield High School

Our program was created after the Rodney King Riots, when students recognized the necessity of communication to deal with race relation problems. Garfield is the most diverse public school in the Seattle School District. As students, we are privileged to be surrounded by such a range of races, ethnicities, sexualities, socio-economics, thoughts, and ideas. This is a wonderful tool, and Cultural Relations provides the bridge to teach students how to become more aware. Cultural Relations is a student-run organization lead by a group of ten of us, called C.O.R.E (Congress of Racial Equality). Now we hold two retreats a year, and usually 80-120 students attend. At the retreats, C.O.R.E. facilitates workshops, discussions, and forums on race and other relevant issues facing today’s youth. In addition, we sponsor various workshops and other events. The goal is to ease racial tension and unite students by highlighting their similarities.