Upper School Students Participate in Summit to Promote a Culture of Consent

During the last week of February, each Upper School grade participated in a 30-minute peer-to-peer presentation on the delicate topic of sexual assault and consent. These presentations were put together and led by a group of ten SSFS students who joined other high school students from around the country to participate in the annual Georgetown Day School Summit on Sexual Assault & Consent on Nov. 23, 2024. 

Along with four SFSS chaperones (US Counselors Beatrice Adewole and Jess Lux; MS Counselor/Head of SSFS Counseling Services, Erin Rose; and US History Teacher, Anthony Perdue), these brave students attended various workshops on multiple facets of this topic such as from “How to Respond to an Assault Survivor’s Disclosure,” “Deconstructing Toxic Masculinity,” “Safety during the ‘Red Zone’” (of particular relevance to our US Seniors), and “Consent in Action,” to name a few. Students also attended a Survivor Panel Discussion and a presentation from Keynote Speaker Maggie Nichols, former USA Team Gymnast and author of the book, Unstoppable!: My Journey from World Champion to Athlete A to 8-Time NCAA National Gymnastics Champion and Beyond.
 
After the conference, the students continued their work with weekly lunch meetings with Beatrice and Jess, during which they debriefed and prepared the February presentations for each grade at SSFS. The goal of these outstanding presentations was to give back to their SFSS community by educating, advocating, empowering, and inspiring their US peers, while also ensuring our SSFS campus is a place where students and staff feel comfortable and supported, knowing that community members will “stand up” as Upstanders to help in any way possible, versus “standing by” as Bystanders.

Thank you to this school year’s GDS Summit Student Team:

• 9th Grade: Violet Johnson, Ella Miles
• 10th Grade: Phoebe Yonkos, Nora Sadek
• 11th Grade Mikayla Palmer, Fayha Gholston, Cullen Carothers, Gabby Osei
• 12th Grade: Sam Mahoney, Mense Houndje