2021 BLAST Graduates: (Front) teacher Nancy Toussaint; (middle) Faith-Jasmin Wilson, Christie Wilks, Hermione Williams and Trinity Steele; (back) Nathan Louis, Melik Frederick, Jayden Louis, Johan Henry, Chaz Allen and Lintwan Brown. Not shown: McKenzie Henry.
WELLINGTON’S YOUNG BLACK LEADERS Wellington High School Creates BLAST, A New Course In Black Leadership
Author Margaret Hunt is a member of the BLAST program and president for the 2021-22 school year. Her goal is to make Black students feel more welcome, safe and understood.
BY MARGARET HUNT
With an aim to help build the future base of tomorrow’s Black leaders, Wellington High School has created an innovative course known as BLAST, which stands for the Black Leadership & Achievement Student Team. When AICE math teacher Nancy Toussaint and student McKenzie Henry, then a senior, realized that Black students were under-represented in Wellington High School’s leadership programs, they both wanted to make the school more inclusive. They needed a team, but there was a problem — they had no clue that one another existed.
However, when Mike Kozlowski, a school administrator with a similar vision, approached Toussaint about meeting Henry, it led to the creation of a class for underserved Black students. In January 2020, at the next faculty meeting, WHS Principal Cara Hayden gave her support to adding a leadership class for Black students at the school. She noted that the previous schools that she worked in all had courses designed for Black students, but when she became principal at Wellington High School, there were none. She wanted the school to be a place
where minority students could thrive as well. A follow-up faculty meeting occurred via Zoom near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Toussaint invited Henry to attend. She wanted a student to be involved in the discussion about creating a Black leadership class. During the meeting, the late Assistant Principal Henry Paulk created the name for the proposed class after pondering it some time. He came up with the acronym BLAST and suggested that Toussaint have an interview process for prospective students. wellington the magazine | august 2021 37