Students for Justice and Equality Attends Yearly Conference

 “I would definitely recommend this trip to future SJE students,” Noor Elmarasy, a junior who attended the leadership conference with Students for Justice and Equality in November. 

Students for Justice and Equality club members get the opportunity to go to the New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities conference that is held yearly. The conference this year was on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was held in Niagara Falls. This allowed the New Hartford members to meet new people and adapt to new ideas throughout the conference. 

Selma Turkakin, a junior at New Hartford and a SJE member, described the conference as “an experience that promoted interaction with ambitious students and student leaders across the state.” 

She and Noor both joined SJE this year, meaning this was the first time they could attend the conference. Noor mentioned her favorite part of the conference being an activity called round tables. 

“There were about 60 tables and at each table there were 1-2 people speaking about a leadership opportunity that we could bring back to our school (blood drives, powderpuff, arts and crafts with elders, etc.),” Noor said.  “Each table had 6 minutes to explain the activity and gave papers with information about the activity to allow students to bring back these ideas to their school community. After the 6 minutes were up you shifted to a new table, this also made you sit with new people every time. This went on for about 10 rounds-” 

Even though this was her favorite part, she ultimately thought that there should have been more tables so that students had the opportunity to hear more ideas from different people. 

On the other hand, Selma’s favorite part of the trip was the motivating speakers. She liked that they were passionate about what they were doing. She also felt that the environment was very enthusiastic. 

Selma and Noor were accompanied at the conference by SJE’s club advisor, Mrs. Worwa. Initially Mrs. Worwa began taking students to the conference last year, but that wasn’t her first time going. 

Mrs. Worwa attended these conferences with the previous school she taught at, as well as attending when she herself was in high school. She is very involved in the conference; she is on the adult executive board for NYSCLSA as the director of finance and has also co-chaired the conference twice. She helps behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. 

From a teacher perspective, Mrs. Worwa said that her favorite part of the conference is the whole thing! 

“I love bringing students to grow their leadership skills, as well as network with other students from around NYS,” Mrs. Worwa said.

For the students, the conference as a whole was a learning experience and a place where each student could share their ideas freely while still hearing out others. 

Students for Justice and Equality as a club helps to raise awareness for a variety of issues. The club also holds fundraisers and other events like the “Special Occasions Closet” which they held last year in the spring. 

The Special Occasions Closet was essentially a dress and suit drive. SJE collected items that students could borrow anonymously and use as their own for homecoming, prom, and etc.