GSA: A Safe Place For Any Student

This past week at Old Rochester Regional High School, the stress was almost tangible.

Third term ended on Tuesday, April 5, and students pushed through the final stretch, taking tests and quizzes teachers wanted to get in before the end of the term, finishing uncompleted homework, and making sure all their work was in and accounted for. And despite the frantic end-of-term stress, clubs and sports continue their normal routines. Therefore, this week is a good time to highlight the work of one of the many likely unknown clubs at Old Rochester – the GSA.

The GSA, which stands for Gay-Straight Alliance, is a relatively new club that began last year to spread awareness and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer/Questioning).

“Essentially, we promote acceptance and social equality and justice and things like that,” said GSA member Emma Cadieux. “It’s just a safe haven for anyone who needs it. The door is always open. It’s really just an open place where people can feel free to come and hang out if they need it.”

The club meets every Thursday after school from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.

The idea to begin a GSA was proposed and attempted many times in the past at ORR, but fruitlessly. However, the school applied for a grant to begin the club, and upon receiving it, took action to begin a GSA.

This past year, the GSA seems to be surviving just as well as any other club.

“Our driving force was mostly that we wanted to offer some support and to gain a sense of acceptance,” said club supervisor and school nurse Kim Corazzini.

The club was introduced to the student body in February of last year with a presentation that explained the different sexualities and identities that exist and their proper terms. The presentation included a panel of high schoolers available to answer questions.

The staff at Old Rochester also attended a training session before the presentation in order to become more educated on the GSA and the LGBTQ+ community. Another staff meeting was also held this year.

The idea behind teacher training was to begin at the bottom and build it from the ground up, all the way to the students.

After the presentation, there was a school-wide contest to design a logo for the club to get the school involved and excited about the GSA. Of the many entries, senior Emily Faulkner won, and her artwork is now being used as the club logo.

Currently, the ORR club attends meetings with other local GSAs in a regional meeting, in which they discuss and explore important issues such as unhealthy relationships and the like. Meetings are every other month, with the exception being this month and next month. The large statewide meeting will be held this June.

Some of the members of the GSA were even selected to participate in leadership training over the last summer.

The members of the club enjoy participating for an abundance of reasons.

“My favorite part about the GSA is how relaxed it is. You can feel free to come in and if you had a bad day, you can talk about it if you want,” said Cadieux. “I also like how we address topics that others might not like talking about.”

Not only is the GSA a place to discuss important issues, it is also a support network to anyone who needs to unload any kind of burden they have.

The GSA’s work is far from done. They plan to become much more involved in the lives of students within the next couple of years in order to provide a support network for anyone who needs it, as Corazzini explained.

“We have work to do. I really hope that we’re able to build a greater base,” said Corazzini. “We need to reach out a little bit more, but I think it has a presence now and people are aware of it. Our logo is around places and people are pretty okay with that.”

The ORR community should keep an eye out for great things to come from the school’s GSA.

By Sienna Wurl

 

One Response to “GSA: A Safe Place For Any Student”

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  1. Keith Pullman says:

    GSAs are great and I hope every school will have a GSA and that every GSA will be a welcoming place for all students whose gender identity, sexual orientation, or relationship orientation (think polyamory, for example) or that of their parents makes them a target for bullying, exclusion, discrimination, or microaggressions.

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