Junior Shaqued Ben-Harush said having Park’s equity coaches talk to the Advanced Hebrew class allowed the entire class to see things in a different perspective.

“I think that it made us more open-minded because we never really thought of some things being as unfair as people might think,” Ben-Harush said.

According to Hebrew teacher Hadassa Slager, she invited the equity coaches to come in and speak to her third-hour class Dec. 17 because she noticed that there was some confusion surrounding the classes discussions on food insecurity.

“We had an item come up about food around the world and I had a feeling there was communication (necessary) where it just needed to be cleared up or become clearer,” Slager said.

Slager said she thinks it is important to teach students how to have a productive discussion, as her class did with the equity coaches.

“I thought that was an excellent moment to do so and talk not just about equity, which I think is always important, but also have a conversation about having a conversation or a discussion about having a discussion,” Slager said.

Sophomore Carly Joseph said the discussions in class were necessary in order to clear the air and allow students to discuss ideas without feeling embarrassed.

“It’s a good place to have a discussion about different topics that people might not normally talk about because they’re uncomfortable,” Joseph said.

According to Slager, the feedback she received from her students was positive and she hopes the discussion helped them with their understanding of the class.

“I hope my students came away with clarity of mind,” Slager said. “Some students gave me very nice feedback and I thought it was a good discussion and I liked that they (the equity coaches) came in.”

Because of the favorable response from her class, Slager said she may invite the equity coaches back another time.

“I’ve never done it before and maybe I should just do it once a year or so besides for just observation (of the class), have them (come) in (for) a discussion for the students to reach value in that too,” Slager said.