Diversity Day is a day when many guest speakers come to Wiscasset Middle High School  to educate students and staff about a variety of topics while promoting diversity within society. Students get to attend workshops instead of regular classes, and there is much to learn. 

On April 9, students and staff had the opportunity to attend four one-hour long workshops of their choice throughout the day. Leading up to this day, students were given a packet of information about the 30-plus workshops being offered. The great thing about Diversity Day at WMHS is that all students have free choice over what activities they decide to participate in, which ensures they remain comfortable throughout the day. Activities ranged from learning about African drumming and even getting to play, to learning more about service dogs while socializing with a dog in training. There is no doubt that on diversity day, there is a workshop for everyone. Overall the day was incredibly positive for both workshop leaders and students, and each topic or idea had both sides represented, ensuring nothing was one-sided. 

Cynthia Turcotte, head of the Civil Rights Team at WMHS, has put an incredible amount of effort into planning Diversity Day each year. For many months leading up to the event, Turcotte sent and received hundreds of emails, getting in contact with workshop leaders and scheduling the event. Over 60 people attended Diversity Day to lead workshops for the students. When asked what she envisioned for Diversity Day, Turcotte replied, “My intention is that everyone learns new things, but also that they feel like their perspective is represented in some shape or form.” She noted that Prema Long and Ralph Keyes, fellow teachers at WMHS, also put in a lot of effort to help Diversity Day come together. 

Diversity Day is something students can look forward to, because it’s fun and serves as a learning experience. Senior Ayanna Main said, “I think it is important to have a day such as Diversity Day in places that do not have a high demographic of diverse students. It is important that we have people come in who can educate all, while still having fun.”

Junior Matthew Chapman said Diversity Day helps students make “direct experiences with things almost foreign to them, which is important because diversity is the strength of our nation and is what our country is built from. Implementing this day helps kids get a small taste of that. The way I see it, if everyone was the same, life would be pretty dull. Diversity prevents this and distinguishes each and every one of us, yet still finds a way to connect us over all”. 

Diversity Day has been around at WMHS for over 10 years now, and with the support of students and staff, it can remain a tradition for the years to come.