LEWISTON – To 18-year-old Alazar Zewede and his classmates, Lewiston High School is a changed place.

Two years ago, a sudden influx of Somali families caused clashes in the community and hostility in the high school. Tensions were high and tempers often flared.

Today, Lewiston High School is peaceful. Posters in every classroom promote diversity. Friendships between Somali and native-Lewiston teenagers are more common.

Students have learned to respect – and even celebrate – their differences.

“It did change. People started to get along,” said Zewede, a senior. “It was crazy before.”

The school has seen such a dramatic turnaround, in fact, that the Maine Civil Liberties Union has given the student body its first-ever Youth Award.

“Those students have made the high school a much more comfortable place, a much safer place, both physically and emotionally,” said Steven Wessler, founder of the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Violence and a member of the Civil Liberties Union Board of Trustees.

Wessler, who has spent more than a year training Lewiston students and teachers in conflict resolution and tolerance, nominated Lewiston High School for the only youth award the group has ever given.

He said he’s seen “extraordinary” changes at the school.

Last winter alone, as community tensions reached an all-time high, more than 1,000 students signed cutouts of hands that were displayed to show unity during the Many and One Rally held in response to a gathering of white supremacists in the city. Some students talked to their classmates about the importance of diversity; others spoke to a crowd of 4,000 during the rally.

It was a turning point for the high school. In the past year, students and administrators say, the school has become a calmer, more accepting place. Sixteen flags have been posted in the cafeteria to honor the birth countries of the school’s 1,250 students.

More and more Somali teenagers are joining school sports teams. Friendships are flourishing.

Senior Ben Mendelson called the school “more comfortable.” And as they prepared for the awards ceremony Tuesday, his fellow civil rights team members agreed.

“I think people are more relaxed,” said 18-year-old Isha Mahamud.

Members of the civil rights team planned to accept the honor on the school’s behalf during the Civil Liberties Union’s annual meeting in Portland Tuesday night. Although the group gives a Roger Baldwin Award to an adult group each year, it has never presented an award dedicated to kids.

Considering the difference students have made in Lewiston, Wessler said, he hopes this year’s award won’t be the last.

“This is the first of what I hope will be a tradition at the Civil Liberties Union,” Wessler said.

ltice@sunjournal.com

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