Thursday, October 07, 1999
Students inspire Up With People
Visit to N.Ky. follows Simon Kenton's show of unity
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDEPENDENCE — The determination of a group of high school students working to change the way their peers treat each other has inspired Up With People to visit Northern Kentucky.
Up With People is an international youth organization that spreads a message of tolerance and unity through musical performance and community service.
The group read about STAND, or Students Taking A New Direction, at Simon Kenton High School and decided to do a Northern Kentucky tour.
“You are the inspiration for us being here,” Ramelia Williams, a member of Up With People's advance team, told STAND members at an after-school meeting this week. “You guys are saying this generation is not lost and can do something about the situation around us. We wanted to come here and encourage you to keep doing what you're doing.”
Students formed STAND at the end of the 1998 school year, after tensions among different cliques and racial groups boiled over into a confrontation at school.
The students came up with the idea themselves and asked administrators and teachers for help and support. The result is more meaningful discussions at Simon Kenton and a more open atmosphere.
And those are the same goals of Up With People. The nonprofit group travels the United States and Europe with 150-member casts of people ages 18 to 27. Their show stresses intercultural understanding, said Brenda Liska, event coordinator.
The advance team — Miss Williams, Miss Liska, and cast members Cristina Bianchessi, 18, of Luxembourg and Tiffani Carlin, 18 of Fairbanks, Alaska — meets community members and signs up host families to house the rest of the cast.
At the end of October, Up With People members will visit six high schools, including Simon Kenton, Scott and Boone County. A show will be performed Oct. 28 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.
Miss Liska said the show is a motivational event designed to encourage people to go out and make a difference in their community.
And that's what STAND is all about.
Before the group formed, “there was a lot of misunderstandings,” senior Josh Lusby said. “People were divided and cut off.”
STAND has facilitated opportunities for students to talk, get to know each other and share their fears and concerns, junior Evonne Maddox said.
Up With People members said they will tell students at other high schools in Northern Kentucky, and elsewhere, about STAND.
“It's not just for black people and their friends, or the popular kids and their friends,” Evonne said. “It's for anyone who wants to talk about things.”
IF YOU GO
• What: Up With People musical show “Roads.”
• When: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 28.
• Where: Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Covington.
• Tickets: Go on sale Friday. Adults $12, $8 students. Call 520-4724 for location of ticket sales outlets.
• To become a host family: Call 520-3799.
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