Jacqueline Lopez (l) and Teresa Potina in their Prejudice Awareness Summit T-shirts

Teresa Potina and Jacqueline Lopez know that prejudice is wrong. As eighth-grade students, they each attended a one-day prejudice awareness summit conducted by Jewish Women International (JWI) and discovered how to recognize and avoid negative, preconceived ideas about people who they think are different.

Ms. Potina says, “When I was in the eighth grade, I wasn’t aware of my prejudices until I attended the summit. When the day began, we all were nervous and frightened, and nobody wanted to talk because we didn’t know each other. By the end of the day, we all were friends. As we were leaving, we were waving and saying, ‘Bye, I’ll miss you!’ It was so cool.”

Selected eighth-grade students from every middle school in Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD are invited to attend Prejudice Awareness Summits each year. “The idea is that the information and awareness not stay within this group of kids, but that it expands to their entire school. We hope that the students who participate are leaders who will go back and create projects and spread the word,” explains Sheryl Eskowitz, a JWI National Volunteer board member. “We work with eighth-grade students because they are mature enough to start handling these issues, and it’s right before they become involved with youth groups and start attending high school.”

The day-long summits are held at the University of Houston and include a variety of activities that help kids recognize their prejudicial tendencies. They might see how M&Ms are different on the outside, but that on the inside they are all the same. They might learn a lesson from an orange. “As an icebreaker, we each had to take an orange and give it a name,” remembers Ms. Lopez. “We’d have to examine the orange carefully, and then put it back in the pile and find it again by picking out its unique features. Then we’d begin to peel it to see what kind of orange it was. Until we peeled them, we didn’t know if the oranges were sweet or sour, just like you get to know a person from the inside, from what’s beneath the skin.”

Ms. Potina, who now is a junior, and Ms. Lopez, who is a senior, were so impressed with their experiences that they became summit facilitators. Ms. Potina says, “What’s great is that not only do the students learn, but we also learn from them. They come up with skits, songs, cheers or anything that gets the message across about prejudice. We can help them with ideas, but they have to create everything by themselves.”

In addition to interactive activities, guest speakers make presentations. This past year, a Holocaust survivor shared his experiences with the students. “He told us about the concentration camps,” says Ms. Lopez. “Many people were so touched by his experience that they cried during his speech. He talked to us like we were there with him, like we were his friends, not just a bunch of kids listening to a lecture.”

Ms. Potina says, “I think these summits are so important for kids. Whether we realize it or not, we’ve experienced prejudice in our lives. If we show younger people what it is and that it’s wrong, I think we will leave a lasting impression on them for the rest of their lives.”

“Our focus is on breaking the cycle of violence, and prejudice is a key component,” adds Ms. Eskowitz. “Each year we say, ‘Wow! This is so timely.’ There was Columbine, there was the dragging death in Jasper. Then there was September 11. I want these kids to understand that there’s something they can do, that they can make a difference. We hope that one day there won’t be a need for our program. That’s our goal.”

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