According to Merriam-Webster, the word unity means “a way of combining the parts in a work of art or literature so that they seem to belong together.” When all the different parts of something are brought together, they become unified, despite still being their own distinct thing. Every year at Fossil Ridge High School, members from Diverse Leadership Awareness (DLA), led by counselor Melissa Vasa, try to show this idea to students through Diversity Day, which is held in September, and Unity Week, which happens around the first week of April. Junior Milena Brown said, “[We have Diversity Day] to emphasize our differences, but in a good way. It’s to highlight the strength in diversity. Unity Day is saying ‘okay, let’s take all of our differences, all of our different strengths, and when we come together we can make something really great’.”

Unity Week came about after the school’s 2012 Lip Dub, when, according to Vasa, “We realized the power of community.” This year’s Unity Week will take place April 3-6, and is centered about the Dude. Be Nice project, which was founded by Brent Camalich. The DBN project is focused on kindness and an appreciation for everyone in the community, and DLA will be incorporating aspects of the project into their activities throughout the week. The main event will take place, as usual, during advisory, with a group lesson plan and then activities for the whole school in the gym. This year, however, that will be happening at the start of the week, Monday, April 3, because school will not be in session on Friday, April 7.

The incorporation of the DBN project into Unity Week will be very different from past years, and DLA members are excited to kick it off and create a fun week of bringing the school together. “The best part about this year’s week is that it’s much more involved with the student body and there’s a lot more opportunities for students and staff to participate in activities throughout the week. What I really love about the way that we’ve been doing is that we’ve been reaching out to so many organizations within the school. We’re unifying a lot of different clubs in order to put it on,” said Brown.  

Students who wish to help lead the activities during advisory on Monday can contact a DLA member or Vasa, and DLA is also looking for as much student involvement as possible throughout the rest of the week. “What you get out of high school is what you put into it, and what you put into it is also related to the events that you go to. People can get involved, meet new people, and just have a lot of fun,” said Brown.

Cover Photo Credit: dudebenice.com