More than 2,100 students from Baton Rouge high schools were excused from classes Tuesday morning and hopped on school buses to attend what was billed as a “College & Career Fair.”
Some students, however, came away from this districtwide field trip upset, saying what they participated in felt more like a church service.
“The majority of students chose to attend this field trip on the promise of free food and the opportunity to skip class, however the majority of students were not only disappointed by this event, but traumatized as well,” Alexis Budyach, a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High, wrote in a Facebook post.
Budyach is one of several students who took to social media after Tuesday’s event, which was called a “Day of Hope” and held at Living Faith Christian Center. Several parents and even a teacher whose child attended the event went online to register their discontent.
In response to the concerns, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system issued a statement late Wednesday defending the event as “an elevation of a traditional college and career fair.” The statement also defended the school district’s partnership with the local nonprofit that put on the event, 29:11 Mentoring Families, saying the group is providing “additional support services for students in our district.”
“We look forward to seeing what our over 2,100 student participants will continue to achieve with the resources and knowledge gained from this event,” according to the statement.
Superintendent Sito Narcisse did promotions in advance of the Day of Hope event and spoke briefly to the students who attended.
Brittney Byrant, a biology teacher at Woodlawn High and the mother of a senior at the school, was one of those who took to Facebook to register her concerns. She’d learned the day before that she was serving as a chaperone for the event, accompanying her child. Bryant particularly objected to the organizer’s decision to separate the audience by gender and have the girls listen to a series of emotional talks from three female speakers.
“They talked about rape (and) forgiving the offender, suicide, prayer leadership, and many more dark controversial topics. We had females in the bathrooms crying due to the topics of discussion,” Bryant wrote.
Her transgender child, who identifies as “he,” tried to walk out as the “girl talk” started and was initially barred from leaving, the mother said. Bryant said she also heard that other transgender students were bullied Tuesday.
“Other students poured water on top of transgender students’ heads without any repercussions by any of the adults present,” Bryant wrote.
Bryant listened to the “girl talk” segment. Then she stayed to listen to the boys’ much different “real talk” session.
“From the beginning no topics were discussed but (they) began male chauvinistic competition for monetary reward for winners,” Bryant wrote. “Then proceeded to compete for push-ups for more money. They were hyped up and egged on.”
Reached by The Advocate, Bryant said she worries she’ll face repercussions for speaking out, but said she felt it was the right thing to do.
“I just want to bring to light what happened with the kids and the feelings they had,” she said.
She acknowledged there were students who probably liked what they heard, but for others the day was traumatizing.
The Day of Hope event attracted students, mostly seniors, from across the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. It was organized by 29:11 Mentoring Families, a nonprofit group in Baton Rouge led by Tremaine Sterling. The name of the organization is reference to a biblical verse in the Book of Jeremiah.
In an email, Sterling said his organization has been holding events like the Day of Hope for students in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas for over 10 years. This year, he said, they moved it from Bethany North to Living Faith. The focus, he said, is providing “resources and tools to young people as they prepare for their next steps after high school.
“We’ve received countless messages online and in person of support and appreciation for this event from attendees, and we are excited to continue offering this event in the future,” Sterling wrote.
Lesliana Coleman was one of the students who enjoyed Thursday’s event.
“It was amazing. I loved it,” Coleman said. “There were like no fights. There were students from all the high schools all together.”
Coleman, a senior at McKinley High, said she was not bothered by the talks she heard during the “girl talk” segment, finding them by turns instructive and inspiring.
Coleman said she was not surprised to hear such frank talk or to be separated by gender. She said Sterling came to McKinley earlier this month and gave out additional information letting her and other students know what was going to be discussed and that it was occurring at a church.
“If I’m walking into a church, I know we’re going to be talking about something,” she said.
Alexis Budyach’s mother, Bonnie Kersch, said neither she nor her child had any idea the Day of Hope event was occurring at a church.
“She felt she was duped into thinking that she was going for a college and career fair, that she was proselytized over and prayed over,” Kersch said.
The flyer that she received beforehand listed the address for the event, 6375 Winbourne Ave., but did not make clear that that’s the address for Living Faith. If she had known that, she said, she would not have signed the permission form.
“Do I have to Google everything?” wondered Kersch.
In her Facebook post, Budyach, like Bryant, questioned the “girl talk” portion of the event. The third speaker, a mother who recounted finding her son dead after a suicide, hit far too close to home for Budyach, who has a grandfather who years ago killed himself.
“For the third time, a possibly useful message (was) hidden behind an extremely traumatizing account of a day that we had no warning or idea that we were going to learn about,” Budyach wrote.
Trey Holiday, a senior at Woodlawn High, said he found the college and career part — a series of tents set up outdoors for students visit as they choose — lacking, with too few colleges and programs in attendance, a feeling he said was shared by other Woodlawn students he spoke to.
“It kind of felt more like a spiritual event than a career and college fair,” Holiday said.
And he said he too was struck by the difference in what he heard later from the female students who attended.
“We boys all we did was do push-ups, we played games, we got money for the games we played,” he said. “It was a bunch of things that were very different, very sexist (compared to what the girls experienced).”
Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate.com and follow him on Twitter, @Charles_Lussier.
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