Creek hosted the 30th annual Colorado Youth Diversity Conference on Jan. 28. This event is entirely planned by and for students, with as many as 18 schools joining for the largest diversity and inclusion conference in the state of Colorado.

Principal Ryan Silva was proud to have the Creek host the event, which promotes youth education and empowerment.

“A bunch of students are getting together to talk about diversity and how to make their schools inclusive and I think that’s really important,” Silva said. “It’s also important for schools around the state of Colorado to see Cherry Creek as a school that promotes and values diversity.”

The conference featured a variety of workshops with topics chosen by the Youth Celebrates Diversity student board of Colorado. Speakers covered topics such as the Asian Pacific Islander experience, book bans in Colorado, social justice, and stereotypes. The workshops allowed students to talk about their experiences with diversity in a safe and inclusive environment as well as information about the community and other ways to get involved.

“When I entered [the workshop] I was surprised at how efficient and immersive it was. It felt like an open and safe space,” Thunderridge High School sophomore Eli Williams said. “I left with a larger understanding of my community and the resources around me.”

According to Lachi, the keynote speaker of the event, she hopes to expand the conversation of diversity to include a wider variety of experiences.

“We don’t talk about the intersectionality when we talk about diversity and equity inclusion,” Lachi, who only goes by their first name, said. “A lot of times we’ll focus either on gender or race, maybe we’ll focus on sexual preference, but the intersectionality of those three things is in and of itself, its own node that we need to focus on as well.”

Lachi hoped the event would inspire young people to talk about their differences and advocate for inclusion.

“These differences that we all have are what we need to embrace to actually start cultivating and healing our society as a whole,” she said.