ST. LOUIS — Students from high schools all over St. Louis gathered to discuss race issues and ways to overcome the region’s deep racial divides at a student summit in January.

The students were supposed to present their ideas to a larger group, and at the end of the summit, students were to vote for what they thought was the best solution.

But something unexpected happened.

Students from McCluer High invited students from Parkway North to join in their conversation.

Then students from Francis Howell North in St. Charles County joined tables with Confluence Prep Academy, a charter school in downtown St. Louis. Students from Hazelwood East in north St. Louis County joined tables with Seckman High School in Imperial.

For the next several hours, students from different schools and different backgrounds formed friendships and discussed solutions to problems many shy away from talking about: racism, privilege and bias.

From this, a winning idea formed and a sister school program was created.

Students from matched schools would temporarily exchange schools as a way to build relationships and understanding.

On Wednesday, Feb. 25, students from the race summit in January met at Ritenour High School for the Return to Race Summit in order to discuss what they learned from their sister schools, how race affects the schools and how they can improve each school when it comes to race relations.

“I think the key message would be that no matter who you are, where you come from, everybody’s equal,” Shemar Lee, a junior from Confluence Prep Academy, said. “Everybody should have the same opportunities to do the same things in life.”

Event organizer Drew Schwartz of Education Plus added, “We really wanted to hit the nail on the head. Let’s be brave, let’s be bold, let’s let the students tackle race.”

Education Plus, an umbrella organization that represents school districts across the St. Louis region, organized the STL Student Summit on Race.

The movement will continue, even over the summer months, as they announced a new partnership with Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work, the top social work school in the world. Another summit is also planned for 2016.

An archived version of HEC-TV’s live coverage of the Return to Race Summit can be found here within a few days.

Copyright, HEC-TV 2015.