Article by Acacia Edeluchel
Video by Jadyn Stafford
To start off her last year at Minarets, senior Jazmyn Evans took the opportunity to reflect on her high school years filled with many successes and memories. Evans has worked hard to leave a positive impact on her school and community through her involvement and founding of the Student Allies For Equity (S.A.F.E.) Club.
“This has been on my heart since freshman year. This is what my purpose at this school is for.” says Evans. “[Starting the club] required a lot of guts, I had to be willing to put myself out there and I’m usually a really shy person. I knew that if I was going to do this club and when I was going to do it, I was going to do it to the best of my ability because this is a really important topic. In order for it to go well, it needs to be done with such eloquence and time and dedication.”
The Minarets S.A.F.E. Club was created for fighting racism and educating the Minarets community about the issue as well as the importance of equity. Jazmyn explains why she started the club and her experiences and things she’d witnessed in her community that made her aware of the importance of the issue.
“There were a few experiences that really led me to create S.A.F.E. Club,” Jazmyn explained. “What really pushed me to start it was I heard that a little freshman was bullied racially and then that broke my heart. I knew that I needed to start this club for her, for the future kids who are of color and even for my own siblings and cousins who would’ve been coming to this school. It needs to be safe for them.”
“[I] would describe Jazmyn’s impact on the school as she has opened the topic of racism that comes with schools,” says senior Isabella Romero. “With this club, it’s going to bring a lot of awareness to the people of color that are at this school, allowing us to talk about this conversation that is not a conversation that we usually talk about and I think she’s really making an impact not just for herself but for all the people of color in this school. [Jazmyn as a friend] is very encouraging and supportive. She’s a very helpful person and has an amazing personality, she’s also very fun to be around.”
This year, being all in-person, the club is looking forward to having more opportunities to expand the club. Social science teacher Bob Kelly explained Evans’ impact and involvement in the club.
“Jazmyn has done a great job starting S.A.F.E.,” says social science teacher Bob Kelly. “She very clearly defines A: what the overall club is for and then B: what each meeting is about and she just keeps coming back to the core. She does a great job of including everybody in the meeting and then just the ideas around allyship and equity on Minarets campus.”
Outside of S.A.F.E. Club, Evans is involved in many other clubs and extracurricular activities.
“Here at Minarets, I am involved in a lot. I'm involved in leadership, with ASB, Link Crew, I’m in Drama club, I was in Dance club and Spanish club, CSF, Key Club, S.A.F.E. Club,” says Evans. “I just enjoy doing it all. [Outside] of school, I am a dancer and an actress. I love to do musical theatre.”
After high school, Evans plans to get into a four year college to study medicine and child development.
“My family really has inspired me to go into the medical field. My long term goals are to give quality care to minorities. Minarets has helped me a lot with the leadership positions I have been so fortunate to have here and just the AP classes I’ve taken that helped get me ready. S.A.F.E. Club is my legacy, this is what I want to leave here at this school, this is for the future children of color. This is my goal to promote racial equity. I want everyone to feel safe because Minarets is a great school.”
Kelly says, “[If Jazmyn] continues to keep doing what she’s doing, she’s already done great things, she’s going to do even greater things.”