Every school year, there some new and fascinating activities going on at Ames High; the formation of a new club SACRE (Students Advancing Civil Rights Education) is high up on the list. What is SACRE you might ask?

In an interview senior Makai Muhammad, a leader of SACRE said,  “It is very unique club in the fact that it is a safe open space, free of judgment, for people to share experiences of racism and bigotry and learn about how racism affects all of us every day. SACRE is important because unfortunately, too many people are unaware of how institutional racism affects them every day. Whether it is bias, bigotry, or white privilege, we want to make Ames the most inclusive and woke school ever.”

In order for a club to be noteworthy and successful, there must be a motto that the leaders and the students of that club must follow. “To Educate and Empower” is the motto that SACRE and its  members will follow. “The goal for SACRE is to educate and empower. We want to educate students and staff of racial issues at AHS and the country and empower people to be able to defend themselves” Muhammad said.

All clubs and activities in our school start with an idea. They begin with a student or a group of students getting together and discussing what ways they believe our students in our school can become more educated and involved in our school.

“I had an idea for a club where students of color could share their experiences, then I learned that Abbas, Melina, and Isabel all wanted something similar. So the four of us came together and discussed what we wanted and why we thought it was necessary for Ames High” Muhammad said.

With the addition of a new sport, club, or activity in our school, there will be mixed reactions from the students of our high school. In regards to this,  Muhammad said,  “Initially, a lot of people I know were not on board. They thought this club would be too divisive for Ames High which is absolutely the opposite of what we want. But the more people who told me it wasn’t a good idea, the more I knew it needed to happen. Once we had our first meeting, it was so powerful that I knew there was no slowing down.”

At the end of my interview with Makai I asked him this, What would you say to students who are on the fence of joining SACRE? “In my eyes, there is no downside. We have great discussions, free of judgment, we have so many people that come to share their perspective. Plus, Free Food!”

“Our meetings will be held on Friday plus period in the multipurpose room. Sign in Flexisched under Spence’s name. We will have discussion prompts and the four SACRE leaders will guide discussion among students, then we will do our best to explain why these things happen. We are just students, so we don’t know everything, but we will do our best” Muhammad said .