— 2022 Unity Award Recipient —
DaVonia Lashae Henry
Kansas City, KS
DaVi was the first person at our school who came to mind when I read about the Unity Award. DaVi celebrates all her peers, is positive, and bridges divides between groups of students who may otherwise not connect. Though DaVi has a strong sense of self and her values, she is wholeheartedly accepting of others, often being the first student to show new students around, introduce them to staff, and help them get oriented to new classes and routines. Through working on increasing her own self-advocacy skills, DaVi uses her new knowledge to advocate for others and encourage her peers to also learn self-advocacy skills. She is a leader in our school always looking for ways to build community in small ways, such as starting and encouraging others to play board games, as well as large ways, such as helping to organize and promote the first prom our school has had.
Nominated by Brittany Bohrer, Educator at KCKPS
Why are you personally passionate about addressing bullying and promoting inclusion?
You don’t want to see someone treat another person that way. Doing events together can help because you’re not in the classroom the whole time. You can move around and do something else. It makes relationships easier and we all get a reward together.
Why is it important to create a world without bullying?
It’s important to create a world without bullying because we don’t know what a person is capable of. We might think something is fun and games, but that often isn’t the case, and we don’t know what someone could be going through and what could happen because of our actions.
