Inclusion, diversity the focus of annual conference at LTHS South Campus

An annual education conference whose mission is to create an inclusive and welcoming culture through understanding and empathy will be held for the fifth consecutive year.

The Building Inclusive Community Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 8 at Lyons Township High School South Campus, 4900 Willow Springs Road in Western Springs.

Organized by community members and leaders, the event which is geared toward the students and staff of Lyons Township High School, is a free and open to the public and will include a keynote address by Nestor Gomez, a once undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who now works as a creator, producer and curator.

An award-winning storyteller, Gomez is the host of “80 Minutes Around the World,” a show that features the stories of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and their descendants.

In addition, the event will include two breakout workshop sessions that include wide variety of topics such as emotional dysregulation, the connection between mental and physical health, grief support and queer historical figures.

The event will also include performances by Bailando Con Todos, a Latin dance group and LTHS’s stepper group and conclude with a pizza lunch and student-led table discussions on different ways to build a more inclusive community—all aimed at connecting people to one another.

Last year, more than 100 participants attended presentations, sharing stories and engaging in meaningful discussions on a variety of topics.

Marian Honel-Wilson, president of the CommUNITY Diversity Group of La Grange Area, said the idea for holding the event began after the George Floyd murder.

The purpose of the conference, she said, “is to build an inclusive community” and we beieve “there is a lot of support for equity and inclusion in our area.”

“When the whole community is involved and has a stake in decisions and how resources are distributed, everything works better,” Honel-Wilson said.

In the past, Honel-Wilson explained, the event has helped people learn about other groups or issues that they may not be familiar with “in the hope that it builds understanding and empathy” which hopefully leads to action.

Church and community organizations came together in 2021 to host the conference, and the following year the planning group grew to include school districts and additional community organizations.

“Now we have school districts, community organizations, churches and public entities participating” Honel-Wilson said.

Jennifer Rowe, Lyons Township High School District 204′s director of equity and belonging, said that the different organizations coming together to discuss “issues that we are experiencing and things we are seeing and how we are connecting and trying to solve problems” has been a great opportunity to “learn from each other.”

“We have a lot of student engagement and connections for them to talk with other adults and bring them in,” Rowe said. “It has been really exciting to see how the different learning sessions builds relationships with other folks.”

The event includes a wide age range, as one workshop session is devoted to community elders sharing their wisdom of living within the community, the challenges they have encountered and the path they have taken on their equity journey makes the ending lunch and discussion tables unique.

It also helps to lessen the disconnection and isolation some individuals experience, Rowe said.

“Having that call to action to invite people out and into the community to gather is so powerful,” she said.

Events such as this are important because many individuals find themselves hearing the beliefs they hold bouncing back at them, Rowe said.

“When you have an event in the community that says come, learn and talk with other people,” she said, “People may be hearing a message that they have not been exposed to that may help break down the systems where we are closed off.”

“We need different voices that we are connecting with every day,” Rowe said.