This Pride Month, we're highlighting students and staff who help create spaces where everyone feels seen, valued and supported.
Across Highline that looks different from school to school. At Glacier Middle School, students gather after school to make art, play games and build friendships. At Raisbeck Aviation High School, students lead a Gender and Sexuality Alliance club that gives classmates a safe space and community. At Highline High School, students are using interviews and research to better understand the experiences of LGBTQIA+ community members and identify what support still needs to grow.
Together, their stories show that belonging is not built through one event or one month. It grows through everyday choices and how students create space for one another.
Unity Club at Glacier Middle School
At Glacier Middle School, Unity Club brings students together to connect, build friendships and be themselves.
Co-advised by teachers Nicole Query and Mckenzie Throm, the club serves as a maker-space, game room and hangout area where students can create art, play games, share ideas and spend time together. Students help shape the activities and projects they want to see, creating a space that reflects their interests and experiences.
"The club is advertised as a safe space where everyone belongs," said Query. "We create a safe space for students to be themselves."
For many students, the club creates a space students may not always find elsewhere.
"A lot of kids don't have that space at home or don't have that space wherever they go," said seventh-grade student Aurora. "So, it's good to have a place like that at our school."
Aurora hopes classmates understand that Unity Club is open to everyone.
"A lot of people think that it's only for queer kids," Aurora said. "It isn't. It's for everybody. It's just a place where everyone is allowed."
For student Evade, Unity Club became a place to find friendship and confidence while navigating their own identity.
"When I was starting to figure myself out, I was kind of nervous until I met half of my friends," Evade shared. "After that, I found the group that I was supposed to be in. And I was seen as how I am now."
Beyond weekly meetings, students help create belonging throughout the school community. In the 2025-26 school year, Unity Club students partnered with Radio Glacier to develop Pride Month playlists played before school, during passing periods and at lunch. The project is part of a broader effort to celebrate identity, foster connection and help students feel represented throughout the school year.
Unity Club reflects a powerful message: everyone deserves a place where they belong.
Raisbeck Aviation High School: Creating Space to Be Yourself
At Raisbeck Aviation High School, students in the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) help create a community where students feel seen, accepted and free to be themselves.
For many students, the club is more than a place to meet during lunch. It is a space to find friendship, talk openly and spend time with people without feeling pressure to conform.
“Pride is the freedom to be who you are,” said Henry, a member of the club. “It's cool to have a place where nonconformity is normal and treated with respect.”
The club has also become a place where students can grow as leaders and advocates. Andrew, the club's president, helped grow the GSA from a small group of students into an active organization that creates opportunities for connection, awareness and belonging throughout the school.
“I can step up and lead and create this community in the school,” Andrew said.
For Solomon, the club's vice president, the GSA offers something equally important: representation.
“The club creates belonging by being a place where you aren't just tolerated, but accepted,” Solomon said.
Students also emphasized that the impact of the GSA extends beyond those who attend meetings. Visible signs of support, such as posters and club activities, help students know they are not alone and that there is a place for them if and when they are ready to participate.
“What this club is, it's an opportunity for us to get a space where people can be themselves,” said Kai, who joined the club as an ally to help support others.
Together, these students are helping create a school culture where every student knows they belong.
Highline High School: Learning Through Listening and Advocacy
In Highline High School's Gender Studies class, students spent the quarter exploring how rights and protections related to gender identity and sexual orientation have changed over time. For their final project, they interviewed school, city and community leaders to better understand what supports LGBTQIA+ community members and what barriers still exist.
Through those conversations, students identified common themes including representation, safety, support resources and the importance of creating spaces where people feel seen and respected.
For sophomore Elle Alvarado, the project expanded her understanding of experiences different from her own.
"It's made me more open-minded about different identities," Elle said.
Students Thea and Ashley found that many interview participants emphasized the importance of visibility, education and respectful language in helping LGBTQIA+ community members feel welcome and included.
"Having more people be educated about it can really help," Thea said.
The project also inspired students to think about how they can help strengthen belonging within their own school community. After researching the importance of representation and safe spaces, Lulu hopes to help start an LGBTQIA+ club at Highline High School next year.
"We really do not have enough representation here," Lulu said. "Maybe a club will start something for future generations to come."
By asking questions, listening to community voices and exploring ways to support others, these students are helping build a school community where everyone can feel valued, supported and free to be themselves.
Building Belonging Together
At Glacier, belonging grows through friendship, art and student-led projects. At Raisbeck, it grows through leadership, visibility and peer support. At Highline High School, it grows through listening, research and students asking what still needs to change.
These stories remind us that every student deserves to feel safe, respected and valued for who they are. By listening, learning from one another and celebrating the many identities and experiences that make up our community, we continue working toward a Highline where everyone knows they belong.
