“We’re not here to judge. We’re not here to critique, but we are here to support,” director of education at Greater Johnstown High School, Michael Vuckovich says.
A dozen teachers and administrators from the high school are taking a proactive measure.
“We needed trained on how to really have that conversation and the type of vocabularies used so that when they come to us we can be better prepared to help them.”
In May they went to the LGBT Center in Harrisburg to learn and become educated about some of the issues that LGBT students face.
“It’s not just about support. It’s about the providing proper support,” says Tom Smith, the assistant principal.
“We had the opportunity to look at it from their perspective. We were able to walk a mile in their shoes and really got to feel some of the anxieties that they feel,” Rob Heinrich, the 9th grade academy principal adds.
The school is now implementing safe zones. A logo will identify to students who these teachers or staff members are.
“These individuals, teachers, are trained to have conversations related to LGBT,” Vuckovich says.
School district officials want to be clear, the initiative is not related to bullying at all.
They called the trip an eye opening experience. Teachers also learned about vocabulary used by students and most importantly how to be a good listener.
“A lot of the times these students don’t feel that they have someone that they can go to and talk about their problems with or things that they’re experiencing,” Smith says.
The teachers and administration at Greater Johnstown say they still have work to do, but now they at least have the conversation started.
Their next step is to finish training the rest of their staff to better help LGBT students.