Unitown is a national youth leadership and development training program for high school students to discuss real issues that affect teenagers daily, and Feb. 14 and 15, they held an overnight retreat.

“I learned the importance of how people of color, women and less wealthy people feel and see the world every day when people treat them like they are abnormal,” sophomore Anna Coble said. “It really opened my eyes to see these problems in everyday life.”

At the retreat, the students played many games to get them more comfortable to talk about these topics.

“We were put in a family group, which was a small group where we would be able to have deep conversations on a certain topic,” Coble said.

The retreat’s intent was for people to become more aware of the issues in diversity and equality. The purpose was for students to address how to potentially solve these issues.

“You never really know what affects others until they speak up and speak out,” sophomore Katie Moore said. “I would for sure recommend that other people go.”