Edison pupils learn
to respect diversity
By GINA VERGEL,
thnt.com from the Web, April 15, 2006
EDISON, NJ -- When social
studies teacher Tom Thorpe heard there was some strife between ethnic groups at
Herbert Hoover Middle School, he decided the problem should be nipped in the
bud.
"I wouldn't say it was overt racism, but below the surface, it may have been
headed that way," Thorpe said in the middle of a bustling hallway last week.
"Some of the kids segregate themselves, sometimes by the way they look."
To promote harmony, the school held its first Diversity Day program.
Thorpe began calling on township officials and police, religious leaders,
professionals, and high school students, asking them to talk about race and
relations with the school's eighth-graders.
Herbert Hoover Principal Nick Romanetz said the school boasts one of the
township's most diverse student bodies.
"I think every grade level, especially in Edison schools, is diverse, so
anything you can do to teach them to be respectful is a good thing," Romanetz
said.
Mayor Jun Choi, a 34-year-old Korean American, gave the keynote address, telling
the pupils about his background.
"My parents came here as immigrants, and I won an election to be mayor of a town
where only 3 percent of the population is Korean American," Choi said.
The mayor said his parents worked very hard running small businesses to give him
and his sister a better life.
"Both of us received Ivy League educations," he said. "Regardless of who
you are, where you came from, how much money you make, we are all Americans."
Pupils broke into small groups for question-and-answer presentations with the
likes of state Sen. Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, Edison Police Chief George
Mieczkowski, Edison High School teacher Matesh Ghia, a local rabbi, reverend and
Imam, and others.
Buono talked about efforts state officials can make to get more minorities
elected to the state Legislature.
Edison High School students also talked about getting beyond race at the high
school level.
"At Edison High School, you can't help but mix and make friends with people of
different backgrounds," said senior Emily Boitel, whose parents hail from the
Dominican Republic and Poland.
John Vaknin, also a senior, said his parents came from Israel and Morocco.
He said Edison High School students often join clubs based on interests and make
friends of various ethnicities.
"People you might not expect to become friends with, you will because you'll
find you have common interests," Vaknin said.
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