We Are Warriors: Ohio Photographer's Project to Highlight Inclusivity Among Student Body
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I’m an Ohio photographer, but I’m also a full-time teacher at Westerville North High School.
Last school year, I photographed a diverse group of students for a project called, We Are Warriors.
We believe our diversity is our strength and were eager to continue this project for the 2022-23 school year! The feedback from the students and community has been nothing short of amazing.
What might’ve been the most surprising part of Season 2 was the number of students asking how they could participate. And that tells me that this labor of love was not only successful but also appreciated!
A Project of Inclusivity
Westerville North High School has a diverse student body, and we wanted to shine a light on the community.
The first priority was to accurately display the racial and cultural demographics of our school.
The second priority was to recognize and include every type of kid at the school, including special education students, students with no particular extracurricular interests, and students who achieve at all levels.
Choosing a non-biased diverse group of students took some planning and thought. Here’s how students were selected to participate!
To participate in the project, students had to be nominated by a teacher or staff member. Surveys were sent to staff members and included multiple questions and criteria for selecting nominees.
Some of the questions asked if the nominated student was part of clubs or special interest groups that are not typically recognized. We wanted to feature students who are involved in these lesser-known activities, as the main sports teams often receive plenty of coverage.
Beyond the demographic piece, we wanted to include members of the LGBTQIA+ community and spanned over all four years of the high school grades.
Since this is an ongoing project, as seniors who participated graduate, their photos will come down and be replaced with a new student’s photo. This cycle continues each year to accurately represent who we are as a school.
