Friday, November 12 the Gorham High School (GHS) Civil Rights Team will be participating in Maine’s statewide Day of Welcome for the first time with all of the students in the building instead of on Zoom. A little over twenty students have been planning this for a month with the help of advisors Kerry Herlihy and Trisha Cherry.

From making announcements to contacting companies for banners, the Civil Rights Team has been working incredibly hard to make this year’s Day of Welcome even better than last year’s and also working even harder to make sure that it stays a consistent event, regardless of Zoom or masks.

According to Qasim Rabbani, Civil Rights Team member and junior at GHS, “There are three groups that are collectively working together to make this Day of Welcome the best possible experience.”

The group Rabbani was a part of was in charge of getting a vinyl banner for the celebration. The design was made by Civil Rights Team member Rylee Tenuta, with input from fellow members, Megan Wentworth and Rabbani.

The banner shows support for those of all religions, races, disabilities, and sexualities, even making a point to show pride flags that aren’t usually well represented. To get this banner made and ensure it arrived in time, the Civil Rights Team worked with 320Ink.

Another group of students made morning announcements for the past six weeks, highlighting a new fact about a minority group or a specific person who has championed a cause. Marsha P. Johnson is one of many examples presented during these announcements, famously and dubiously credited for starting the Stonewall riots and her instrumental role in helping transgender and gay people gain rights.

With announcements keeping everyone’s mind on the event and a banner on its way, the third group worked tirelessly to put together a video to be shown during the school’s free period on the Day of Welcome.

The video shows interviews with Robert Roy, advisor to the Rainbow League, Rabbani who put on a half-hour presentation educating people on Islam during Ramadan last year, and some people from the Gorham Anti-Racism Development (GARD), thanks to one of their students affairs directors, Klarha Cajuste (Civil Rights Team member, junior at GHS) who handles everything that happens between the school and GARD.

Cajuste was clear in saying, “The whole point of the Day of Welcome is to celebrate the school community we are — it’s just sponsored by the Civil Rights Team — and to celebrate that we all belong.”

The video will be shown in all classrooms on the 12th and will hopefully send out the message Cajuste and the rest of the Civil Rights Team are aiming for.

All of these amazing students have worked tirelessly to organize this event, and they’re doing the best they can to make this day a success. Seeing all of their work come together to celebrate the school will be a stand-out achievement in the Civil Rights Team’s many accomplishments.