At Our Core: Students show us why our work matters

By Bill Kurtz, 5/4

WOW! #DSSTSeniorSigningDay2018!!!!

What an incredible celebration of our mission, our students, our families, and your hard work helping our students become the best versions of themselves. Three things stood out to me:

• The incredible energy and joy our students brought to the whole celebration was extraordinary. I think this is the kind of joy that comes when one feels a deep sense of accomplishment and belonging. It is the kind of energy you see teenagers have at concerts, not school celebrations! If you want to be reminded of this energy, watch this video from the end of SSD!

• Watching the pride with which seniors announced their college choice! Super fun to see them representing!
• The impact Senior Signing Day had on our youngest students. I have heard from many of you how profound the impact was on our middle school students – seeing their peers who look like them, announcing where they'll go to college. All the effort put into Senior Signing Day is worth it if just one undocumented middle schooler sees a new future because of it.

Thank you all for making it a memorable second annual Senior Signing Day!

Last Friday, we also held Slice of Pi, our annual DSST fundraiser honoring Senator Michael Bennet. So many of our students did an amazing job in the student demonstrations!  

During the program, the star of the show was Chhorda Vuth, a GVR alum who is now attending the University of Denver. After moving to the U.S. from Cambodia seven years ago, she struggled with English and mostly kept to herself, afraid people would make fun of her accent. When her older sister encouraged her to attend DSST, she dismissed the idea that she belonged because it’s a “school for geniuses.” Turns out, DSST provided exactly what she needed. Instead of feeling isolated, she said she found a supportive and welcoming community. She blossomed as a student, eventually earning a four-year Puksta Social Justice Scholarship at the University of Denver. Her emotional speech ended with a thank you to her teachers and the community for helping her, like so many others, write a new story that may have had a different ending if DSST wasn’t an option.

If you want to re-live the excitement of Senior Signing Day, you can watch the entire event online or watch each of the videos we played at the event here (a senior-focused video) and here (seniors thanking their families).