Sanaa Scott-Wheeler

Staff writer Juliana Long. Flashes of brightly colored gowns and sleek embroidered suit jackets zipped by me every which way. People chattered and cackled loudly over glasses of fizzling champagne. Smiles were shining wide everywhere. This was just one of the whirlwind snapshots I found myself in at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala.

One very special night a year, members of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies alike from all over the country gather at a hotel in Philadelphia — this year, at the Philadelphia Hotel, to celebrate one another’s identities, differences, and perseverance.

The HRC gala consists of a dinner and silent auction to celebrate that year’s success for the HRC. The Human Rights Campaign is a nonprofit organization that supports and fights for the LGBTQ+ community within the US.

Attendance at the gala starts at $150, so how did I manage to get in? Through SLA’s Community Involvement Club.

The gala relies heavily on volunteers, and our duties are very hands-on. Straight off the bat, volunteers are thrown in with the guests and we are the first smiling faces they see.

My friends and I from CIC started off our night by working registration. We signed guests into the event, provide them with their VIP wristbands & other perks, and send them off to enjoy their night. This job was heaps of fun – every guest is warm and wholesome. We met people of every variety — drag queens in full costume, young lesbians clutching one another’s hands, and even a sweet elderly gay man who asked me to pin a tiny rainbow flag to his suit jacket. We also met some guests who had great senses of humor; my friend Maren Lamb met a guest with the same last name and the two of them shared a cute moment — to which his plus one responded: “This always happens when Lambs meet each other!”

After a few hours of work, The HRC provided us with an amazing dinner and dessert in our volunteer break room (mostly carbs, to keep us on our feet the rest of the night) during a break in our volunteer duties. This break served as a time for all volunteers from different organizations to regroup and get to know one another a little more. There was even an SLA alumn who we got to chat with briefly.

We were also permitted to stand near the lights and   inside the guests’ dinner to watch some of the speakers, such as politicians and comedians. We all felt pretty special knowing that these guests had paid hundreds of dollars to see these speakers and all we had to do was sign up on an online volunteer form. The room, full of incredibly important politicians, activists, performers, etc., had a seriously magical feeling inside of it. The strength and perseverance inside all of the guests truly radiated off of them.

As the guests’ dinner came to a close, it was back to work for volunteers helping with the silent auction. The items up for auction were adorable: rainbow dog harnesses, Freddie Mercury enamel pins, Call Me by Your Name themed movie night kits — the works. Additionally, every item came with a bottle of pride-themed vodka courtesy of Smirnoff. I hope that the guests didn’t notice how jealous I was as I retrieved their packages and passed them over.

Chatting with the now buzzed guests was just as if not more fun than earlier in the night before the dinner had started. They were even sillier and sweeter than when we had first met them. We bid them all a good night as they stumbled out of the hotel with their auction prizes tucked under their arms.

Throughout the night, gratitude towards volunteers never fluctuated. If there’s anything the HRC was able to nail apart from hosting a successful event, it was showing volunteers appreciation. The HRC showed support to absolutely everyone — volunteers and guests alike. Whether it be refraining from asking for ID’s for people whose identities don’t match their legal identification or ensuring that everyone arrives comfortably with who they love, wearing what they love — the HRC never falters in supporting the LGBTQ+ community that it fights for in a non-performative way. As members of CIC, my team and I know what it’s like to volunteer and feel unappreciated and unsupported, so the way that the HRC treated us meant a lot to us.

Upon leaving, we were showered with hugs and free HRC merchandise. We left lighter than we had arrived, like we had grown wings just by being in the presence of such warm people. It may sound dramatic, but it’s the only way to describe the feeling inside of us as we left the hotel, promising to return next year.

In most schools across Philadelphia calling a teacher by something other than their last name would get a student in trouble.  

 

This is yet another way that SLA is not a typical school. While the official policy is to call teachers by their last name, nicknames are often  accepted and encouraged.

 

“Depending on the level of consent with a nickname, they can be either a symbol of connection or endearment, or a cause for distance and resentment”, said African American and World History Teacher, Daniel Symonds, also known as “Symmy or Sym Sym,” who has been teaching at Science Leadership Academy for three years.

 

In a more traditional setting, a nickname can reflect respect not being delivered.

 

“I am hopeful that students take my work seriously, and that a nickname doesn’t indicate my being any less of a teacher than those without nicknames.” Symmy added.

 

But at SLA,nicknames usually consist of an inside joke or reference a story with that teacher.

 

For example, Math Teacher Brad Latimer, or “Latty Daddy,” got his nickname from his first advisory, shortly before his first child, Zooey, was born.

 

“I nickname students, so it’s only fair they return the favor” said English Teacher and Poetry Coach Matthew Kay, also known as Kizzy. which some student have called him in the past.

 

“We have a running joke with Mr Kay where he’ll say something and I say K or MK or Matt Kay,” said Sophomore Londyn Edwards. “I don’t have a problem nicknames as long as it’s mutual and  the teacher is cool with it, I think it shows the relationship with the teacher.” she added.

 

“Teachers should definitely be appreciated , it depends on how you feel about them personally, but teachers should be appreciated in any regard because they sacrifice a lot.” said Edwards

 

“(Sophomore) Caresten Moses has a nickname for Ms. Walker Roberts, she’ll walk in the class and say ‘hey mamas’ and Ms Walker Roberts responds with ‘hey honeys’ I think that’s the cutest thing ever, it’s hilarious to me.”

 

The general goal for teachers the goal is to make sure students understand class material not always connect. At SLA teachers hope to build community with students with the hope that a nickname does not let them stray away in class.

 

“Sometimes if it’s a nickname between students it can be mean and can be making fun of the teachers” said Sophomore Taj Walter.. Several students agreed that such nicknames also exist at SLA, but declined to share what they were.

 

“Some teachers are dead set on having a strictly professional relationship especially at schools I’ve been to in the past, like Discovery Charter school,” Edwards added.

 

“Teachers will get mad ‘I’m a teacher you’re a student, I’m an adult and you’re a child, you’re going to respect me as an adult’, if you want to be a robot by all means…:”

“I give kids nicknames all the time, so I feel like it’s just something that happens…and as long as the nicknames are appropriate and not hurtful, they can help build community” said science teacher, Tim Best, or “Mr Worst.”

 

“Language is amazing and fun and meant to be played with,” said Symmy.

 

“I am hopeful that students take my work seriously, and that a nickname doesn’t indicate my being any less of a teacher.” he added.