At the core of the IMS experience is community: a place where everyone feels a sense of ownership and belonging. The CAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference is an excellent way for IMS students to support and propel that purpose.

Over the weekend, a group of IMS students participated in the CAIS (Connecticut Association of Independent Schools) Student Diversity Leadership Conference at the Hopkins School in New Haven. They joined roughly 500 other independent school students in grades 7-12, for a day of cross-cultural discussion, workshops and networking. The goal of this annual conference is to connect students of color and students committed to diversity with peers in other schools. This year’s event included discussions on social justice, how we learn what we learn, stereotypes and prejudices, and how language and words matter. 

Our students walked away from this conference feeling that they not only learned more about the topics discussed, but they also learned more about themselves by meeting other students from around the state and connecting through a shared experience. 

The students shared some reflections from the conference with the student body at Morning Meeting to hopefully inspire others to attend next year.