Troy Schools host program in honor of Martin Luther King Day

TROY — The Troy School District hosted a program to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 15 in recognition of Martin Luther King Day.

The event took place at Troy Athens High School. The day was marked by a breakfast that is open for the community, a visual presentation and a variety of service projects that the public can take part in, such as donating blood, assembling craft projects and more.

“This is a day of service for our community,” said Kendra Montante, the director of communications and strategic initiatives for the Troy School District. “It’s a time to think of others and come together as a community and school district. We want to look at how we can make the lives of others better.”

Although the work of several student groups and staff members in the district, the Martin Luther King Day program is led by the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board.

“We have been doing a Martin Luther King Day event for many years, and each year it changes and evolves a little bit,” said Montante. “This year and last year, a group of students, called the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board, have taken charge of the event and the activities for the event.”

Members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board said that their hope is to make their district and community better through events such as the Martin Luther King Day celebration.

“Throughout the course of the year, the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board runs events just like MLK Day. We run these days to foster a sense of community within the Troy School district and give back to our wonderful community,” said Troy High School senior Aanya Shah, co-president of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board. “It’s also a great way for Troy Public Schools’ administration to get a sense of what is going on in our schools and what students think about our schools.”

“This group combines students from across the district,” added co-president Marlien William, a senior at Troy Athens High School. “We have four high schools throughout the district, and we have about 60 9th through 12th graders, so I think this serves as a way to grow leadership skills among our students and showcase the exceptional work of this district.”

Ensuring the event stays fresh and relevant each year can be a challenge, but it is a challenge that Montante believes the students meet each and every year.

“Our students look at some of the things we’ve done previously and discuss among themselves and determine some projects that would benefit the community and determine from there what interests them and what community members and organizations need,” she said. “This year, community members will be able to take part in fleece tying, so they will be tying more than 100 fleece blankets for different organizations. They also will be making hope bracelet kits, which are for Grace Centers of Hope, where the students there can make the bracelet. We are painting kindness rocks, which can be left throughout the community as well as making cards for the elderly.”

William and Shah said that the key to planning the event is to ensure the themes of inclusion and service remain central to the program.

“We like to bring back traditions. The portion we’ve had MLK Day’s initial event seven years ago, was the fleece blanket event, for instance. It’s something that people look forward to when they come to this event, but we also try to think of new things we can do,” said William. “Something we try to do every year is some sort of craft kit we can put together. This year, it’s hope bracelet kits. We’re not just assembling something they get, but we give them something they can do themselves, and we include a nice message that has a message of hope inside. The whole point of this day is to spread a little hope and kindness. There’s a lot of negativity you see on the news, but this day shows that there is some good going on in the world.”

“We like to switch up the service activities a lot,” added Shah. “We get lots of newcomers each year, but we do like to keep some favorites, like Marlien said. We still try to ensure everything maintains the themes of inclusivity, diversity and racial equity.”

They said that the event is a community effort that wouldn’t have been possible without a great many people contributing.

“We assist with the visual presentation that we host at the event,” said Shah. “Superintendent (Richard) Machesky comes in, Mayor (Ethan) Baker comes in, our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Miss Chantal Yancey gets up and speaks. The Troy High School and Athens High School Black Student Unions also pitch in on the program as well.”

“We also have a new group in the district called the Equity Council, so this is sort of their debut to the community,” added William.

Both students said they hope they are able to honor King’s legacy and bring about some positive change in the Troy community.

“We really hope our audience takes away the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the community and how important it is for diverse groups to have their voices heard in community conversations,” said Shah. “We hope they see the power behind every voice.”