Nearly 40 years after the Civil Rights Movement, another integration process occurred that helped form a closer bond between two cultures that have rivaled since “the beginning of time.”

It was a cold morning in November of 1992 when 25 nervous, yet excited, Stamford High School students walked through the doors of Darien High School, ready to participate in a new program that would help break the stereotypes that SHS students have for those who attend DHS, and vice-versa.

Students spent a day at DHS observing how the students actually act. The “exchange student” program helped close the gap between students of DHS, known at the time to be only blond, spoiled, rich, and snobby, and students of SHS, profiled as largely minority, rowdy, tough, and poor, with bad attitudes.

The program was successful, as students then developed a mutual respect for each other, and the stereotypes were even eliminated in some circumstances.  The two-day student exchange program was expected to grow larger, as it was going to be opened up to students of all grades.

So where did this program go? Twenty-two years later a program like this would be useful for students of both schools.  The stereotypes still remain prevalent in Stamford High society, so this program could (once again) help close the gap between the two different cultures.

A plan like this could be the first program arranged by our new Student Congress, as it was arranged through the All School Student Council in 1992.  With the endorsement of those who have been recently elected into positions of power in the school, we can make this program happen once again.