by Emma Willibey, photo from “Students promote diversity at Community 360” 

Three STA teachers recently founded Out of the Box, a second semester extracurricular that promotes social awareness by allowing students to attend citywide cultural exhibits. According to co-founder Sarah Knopik, the club’s purpose is for members to “experience diversity in a realistic setting” and spark on-campus conversation of the topics they confront.

“One thing we’re looking forward to is just making diversity more of an open discussion,” Knopik said.

According to Knopik, who created the club with instructors Craig Whitney and Carolyn Hollstein, Out of the Box will arrange a monthly outing where members engage in a cultural enrichment activity, then disclose their observations at a restaurant or coffee shop. Junior Fabiola Gutierrez said that during Out of the Box’s first outing Feb. 1, the group viewed a US immigration exhibit at Mattie Rhodes Center before visiting First Friday galleries and dining at Teocali in downtown Kansas City.

“First Fridays is a whole new crowd of people,” Gutierrez said. “Going to a private, all-girls school, it’s a little more sheltered, so it’s good to see what else is out there and broaden your horizons.”

Knopik, Whitney and Hollstein organized the club after moderating an overnight retreat called Community 360 last fall. According to Community 360 participant Kiley O’Toole, the event invited students from both STA and Kansas City public high schools to share their backgrounds and establish common ground. O’Toole said that the students’ conversations on inequality and individuality triggered the formation of Out of the Box.

“[Community 360] was eye-opening because you kind of want to believe that we live in a pretty fair society, but in the end, we still have a long way to go,” O’Toole said.  “Out of the Box elaborates on the ideas in Community 360.”

According to O’Toole, the students and teachers involved in Community 360 created Out of the Box shortly after the Oct. 19-20 retreat. Knopik, Whitney and Hollstein, who coordinate STA’s diversity events, decided to launch the extracurricular in place of the traditional diversity week celebration. According to Gutierrez, both students and faculty agreed that diversity week served as more of an extra credit opportunity than a genuine cultural experience.

“The teachers were talking about how it seemed kind of pointless because it was something that people would go to just for the extra credit,” Gutierrez said. “[Out of the Box] is something you would have to go out of your way to participate in.”

According to Knopik, the opportunity to observe social issues outside of school is a major factor in Out of the Box’s appeal.

“I guess I get the sense that having a more authentic environment might motivate students to join the discussion,” Knopik said. “[Whitney, Hollstein and I are] here on campus an awful lot, and sometimes discussions can seem a little stilted or forced on campus.”

Gutierrez agreed that Out of the Box grants students the chance to interact with teachers and peers in a new way. While the school environment can restrict students to formal behavior, Gutierrez said that both students and faculty generate a more comfortable atmosphere off-campus. According to Gutierrez, the club gathers open discussion despite including students from various friend groups and teachers who appear guarded during school.

“Hanging out with the teachers was pretty cool,” Gutierrez said of the first outing. “You can just talk to them like normal people, [while] maybe at school you feel like you have to be a little bit more reserved.”

Knopik said that while members initiated plenty of discussion, she hopes to explore deeper topics in upcoming outings. According to Knopik, Out of the Box members plan to expose themselves to sexual diversity by visiting LIKEME Lighthouse, a center that provides education and local resources to LGBT individuals; to class diversity by touring Operation Breakthrough and to other social concerns by listening to public library speakers. Knopik said that Out of the Box then aims to apply its ideals to STA by hosting a school-wide panel where students can exchange thoughts on religious diversity. O’Toole, who attended a similar panel that former speech teacher Tyler Stewart led last year, said that students’ dialogues could increase interest in Out of the Box or social awareness in general.

“[The panel] had girls of different religious backgrounds on it,” O’Toole said. “I didn’t really talk, but it was really interesting to hear people speak. I think it’d be exciting for people who normally don’t get involved [in social awareness] to want to talk about it and make a difference.”

Knopik agreed that one of Out of the Box’s priorities is calling students into on-campus cultural discussions so those passionate about diversity can express their opinions.

“I think the need [for an extra-curricular like Out of the Box] exists not only in STA but in our community as a whole,” Knopik said. “Just within that framework, Out of the Box club serves to make feel people feel like they have a place.”