Our Accomplishments:
In the two years since we have started, we have done many things to make our community more inclusive, friendly, and safe. Here are some examples:
Planning the Day of Silence: GLSEN's Day of Silence spreads awareness and supports LGBTQ+ people who have been silenced. If you participate, you stay silent for the entire day. To prepare for this, we had to make posters to promote the event, secure and tape messages to whiteboards, write announcement speeches, plan a Breaking the Silence ceremony and print, cut, color and tie badges. The work was worth it though, because we had nearly a hundred people who participated, along with many other people who were vocal supporters.
Creating and selling crafts at different events: Our biggest profit maker throughout this year was selling crafts at The Fall Festival and the Crafters Edge Craft Fair. We made all sorts of rainbow themed things, such as greeting cards, candles, pins and buttons, bookmarks, stickers, and much more. We also provided face painting, which gained a lot of attention.
Hosting several movie nights: Our second main money maker are movie nights. We will host a movie twice a year, and let people watch for free, but charge for snacks.
Getting rid of the "Snowball" at dances: There was a ritual at dances called the Snowball, were people would put their names in boxes, and one girl would be picked, and one boy would be picked, and they were encouraged to dance together. We viewed this as humiliating, and homophobic, because it was inclusive to only straight males and females. So we took action and managed to get rid of it.
Educating teachers on LGBTQ+ topics: We have made several pamphlets and informational flyers for teachers to educate them about their students. By doing this, we encourage teachers to use correct names and pronouns, and don't use heteronormative standards in their teaching examples or in general.
Going to the State House to talk with officials: We participated in Outright Vermont's Queer Youth Leadership Day, and went to the State House to ask questions and provide feedback to many elected officials, such as Gov. Phil Scott.
Presenting to the 5th graders: We have gone to 5th grade classrooms to help them learn, by reading queer picture books and answering questions.
Presenting to the 5th graders: We have gone to 5th grade classrooms to help them learn, by reading queer picture books and answering questions.