Photography by Zachary can be found here
1/1 I came into SOF in 9th Grade, I knew nobody who went to SOF. It was one of my top choices because of its project based curriculum. I’m more of a creative learner and presenter than a sit down test taker.
Over time I made great friends and meaningful connections. I found a friend group who shared the same goals as me. They played sports and introduced me to basketball, which I never really played before high school, and I really enjoyed it. Later that year I made the JV team.
I quickly fell in love with science as the curriculum was very engaging. I loved my algebra 1 teacher because she pushed me to do more challenging work. She acknowledged me for the student I was, and was always willing to help me, much like many other teachers, with writing recommendations and getting me opportunities. I entered College Now in the beginning of 10th grade instead of 11th because of recommendations from my teachers.
With the help of SOF, I was motivated and more than able to join many organizations to help my community like the 74th District Youth Council. In these groups I got to know other SOF students and made great friends with other social activists.
Zachary, Class of 2022
1/3 One of the highlights of the [summer 2020] protests that shocked me was the different ethnic backgrounds of people that showed up to the protest in support of Black Lives Matter who voiced their frustrations with police brutality and seeing what Black people go through. Honestly, it was a beautiful site to see because pre-Covid you probably wouldn’t have seen such outpouring support. Since the death of George Floyd, people have watched first hand what Black folks and other people of color have been going through for a very long time and now have a better understanding from a human perspective that no person regardless of race should ever be treated unfairly by the police who are supposed to protect us. Today these protests are not only having a big impact here in America but all over the world. I’m glad I was able to share my photographs with others that didn’t get the experience of being there.
2/3 My favorite photography moments are the parents getting their kids involved in the protests. This personally touched me because once upon a time we couldn’t even have these conversations with our parents about racial equality.
3/3 Another moment is this protestor sign that shows all the names of black people that died unjustly by police and reading all the names made me tearful. Daryl Linton is a photographer, activist, and paraprofessional at SOF
