MONROE — Taylor Jacobson is extremely busy, even by the busy standards of an active high school kid. She plays tennis, track and basketball for the Cheesemakers. But in August of 2020, with protests over the murder of George Floyd roiling the nation, she knew she had to a little bit more.

So along with supportive friends — some now in college — and high school advisors, the 17-year-old helped form a group at Monroe High School called Equity 4 Everyone. The group meets weekly to provide a supportive environment for students of color and anyone else living in a smaller town like Monroe where social justice issues might not always be top of mind.

“There’s a lot of ignorance in our school and a lack of diversity,” said Taylor, adding that some kids even reported acts of overt racism as they went about their day-to-day activities in town, such as being followed unnecessarily while shopping, called names or worse.

The Equity 4 Everyone group has grown to about 25 active students at MHS and continues to expand, said Jacobson, who was recently recognized for her efforts in the community. 

She received an ‘Exemplar Woman in Leadership’ award recently and was recognized locally by several organizations, including the International Women’s Day organizers, Multi-cultural outreach program of Green County and Natasha Morgan; Ellie Kone of The Sababou Education Fund Inc.; and Kathy Hennessy of the Monroe Arts Center.

For Taylor, she says the racism she encounters is more subtle, owing to the fact that she is mixed race and can often pass for a white teen. But for other kids, including many Hispanic students, there is no getting around the racism they feel while shopping or just hanging out. And many have felt all along as if they are going through it alone.

“For many of my classmates it’s much more overt,” she said, adding that in agreeing to join the group “it was really neat to see so many of my peers step up and try to make a change.”

Among the changes the group is currently seeking is some much-needed updates to the student handbook to make it easier to understand the district’s policy toward discrimination and to perhaps even address some of the gender-specific verbs such as he/she. The district, she said, has been open to the group’s efforts, and she added Equity 4 Everyone remains open to addressing any potential issue in the community.

“We welcome everyone and we love when people bring issues to our attention,” she said, adding that while the group started out to fight racism, it is now concerned with any issue of equity — including LBGTQ rights.