The G&T symposium was a lesson for a plethora of people. This lesson was important to the LGBTQ movement and to students in the Woodbridge Township School District.

WMS 8th grade students Jessica Joseph, Emma Hodgins, and Shayna Mangal, were the winners of the district G&T symposium. Janese Lewis, another G&T student, claims that they taught everyone a “valuable lesson” about LGBTQ rights and the future of the movement. Mangal says, “I researched about the topic a lot so that I’d be prepared with the statistics and information.”

“I learned about the different gender identifications and spectrums. I also got to learn about some historical people and events that had to do with LGBTQ and rights and future,” fellow G&T student, Lewis commented.

Ryan Kalin stated, “I learned how LGBTQ people were discriminated against in previous years.” They accomplished their main goal with every student saying they learned something. Josh Volz added, “I think they did very well. I learned a lot about LGBTQ.”

Josh Volz said, “I feel like overall there could’ve been more presentation, it was kind of short.” But Ryan Kalin on the other hand disagrees and said, “I don’t think they could change anything because I could only imagine how tough it was standing up there.”

Joseph commented, “The hardest part was speaking about such a controversial topic, and holding everyone’s attention.” Hodgins and Mangal agreeing with her said, “the hardest part was not forgetting the information I had memorized.”

Lewis commented “I honestly think they did a great job, and their presentation was very mature and simple for the audience to catch onto. They portrayed their message perfectly.”

Emma Hodgins said, “I most enjoyed being able to celebrate this accomplishment with two of my closest friends.” Shayna agreed saying, “I enjoyed spending time with Jess and Emma and talking about something we’re passionate about.”

They said, “We felt really happy that we got to educate people on something really important in society today.” Joseph said, “After presenting, I was relieved; public speaking isn’t my strong suit.”

The students are definitely going to hold onto this experience for a long time because it was a great opportunity to convey their opinions, learn how to speak publicly, and educate the public on an important issue.