Salem High Students Make Voices Heard At Peabody Essex Museum

SALEM, MA — Salem students will have a platform to have their voices heard on the state of the schools, issues facing them and how to improve them for future generations at the Student Voice Summit on Saturday at the Peabody Essex Museum.

The summit is part of the greater See Me Festival running at the museum from From through Monday featuring student art on display.

The summit is free and runs from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be student presentations, discussions and monologues from 10:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m. along with music from DJ T-Real.

Students from all grades will speak about social inequity as part of an effort to amplify students' concerns and help them take action to address them.

"Students have examined problems and practices and will offer thoughtful solutions to addressing inequities that they see in their own educational experience," Superintendent Steve Zrike said. "It's incredibly powerful to hear from the young people, who are experiencing our schools right now, offer thoughtful ideas for what needs to change and then a plan for making that change happen in their school district.

"The insights, ideas and solutions of our students never disappoint."

The See Me Festival will feature more than 200 pieces of artwork from Salem students representing all 11 schools, and monologues from Salem High School senior Lee Santiago, juniors Nico Noyola and Taliyah Perrin, sophomore Ella Jackson, and freshman Liv Davis.

Other projects to be displayed include:

• District: A rotating photographic display of the SPS Food and Nutrition Services staff featured last fall for National School Lunch Week (photography by Dana J. Quigley).
• Salem Prep High School: A photographic display of LGBTQ+ community members with biographical narratives.
• Horace Mann Laboratory School: A 10 by 10 foot community mural.
• Witchcraft Heights Elementary School: Drawings and journal entries of Grade 4 students’ immigration stories; self portraits and poems based on the book “The Important Book” by Margaret Wise Brown; and clay sculptures.
• Bentley Academy Innovation School: A mix of traditional artwork, writings and photography.
• Bates Elementary School: Two dimensional pieces in a variety of media along with 15 works of art on a display board.
• Saltonstall School: A poster-size art piece accompanied with original writings as well as paintings by Grades 6 and 7 students inspired by Rene Magritte’s "The False Mirror."
• Carlton School: Self reflective poetry with self portraits.
• Early Childhood Center: Self portraits and text inspired by the book “I Am Enough,” by Grace Byers.