When I was little I thought that all people were treated the same. Then once my family adopted my sister, a girl of color, that thought changed. Once when I went to a camp someone called my sister a “Brownie” and said to my sister that they didn’t like brownies. I wanted to hit them but I said to myself that I couldn’t take that big of a problem into my own hands. I didn’t have a lot of people to talk to about that except my family. Then when I went to Beaumont Magnet Academy downtown, I met some amazing teachers to help me talk about it. Their names are Ms. Messer and Ms. Johnson. Ms. Messer goes to Cedar Springs like my family. Ms. Messer encouraged me to write about equality and taught me to express myself and love my sister well.  When the shooting happened at Austin- East, I was scared and upset.  Ms. Johnson, who is a woman of color and was my 3rd grade teacher, helped me to talk about and understand that things haven’t always been fair in the past and still aren’t now. She taught me that we can all make a difference. Being at Beaumont has helped me make friends that are different from me and it’s also a place where my sister is welcome and free to be herself. I am thankful for a community school like Beaumont where all skin colors are celebrated and where we all feel safe.