PRIOR LAKE, Minn. — From walkouts to call outs, Prior Lake High School has seen a lot this school year, as students stand up to recent acts of racism targeting multiple students of color.
The most recent incident, a handwritten message on a girl's bathroom mirror encouraging black students to harm themselves.
"Racism in Prior Lake has been going on ever since I was in kindergarten," said Prior Lake sophomore Achai Deng.
Deng is a 15-year-old who plays basketball at Prior Lake. She recently walked into the girls locker room to find a handwritten note in her backpack which read, "Get off our team monkey."
A disturbing note, which led to the cancellation of the entire girls basketball season and resignation of the head coach.
"I was hurt, I was just like who could've wrote this," said Deng.
It's an alarming trend which licensed therapist Lambers Fisher with Christian Heart Counseling says originates from learned behavior.
"Things that they've heard modeled and displayed at home, messages that were passed down from parents, other times its from social media," explained Fisher.
Which can result in emotional responses similar to the messages making the rounds at Prior Lake High School.
"Often times what's being expressed is an unhealthy coping manner, sometimes people feel threatened for whatever reason, often times unnecessarily so and this is the way that they're trying to express their need to protect themselves from a perceived threat," said Fisher.
But while the emotional and psychological toll is heavy, it isn't turning Deng's heart bitter.
"Even with my teammates I'm still saying hi to them, I still give them hugs in the hallway."
Turning a negative into a positive, even for the person responsible.
"I know I'm not a monkey, I just know that I still love you as a person, I'm not going to hate on you."
The principal at Prior Lake High School says they've hired an outside firm to immediately start investigating these recent incidents and they're asking anyone with information to reach out to school administration or fill out their confidential reporting form.
Statement from School Principal:
PLHS Staff and Families,
In follow up to my communication to you last night, I want you to know what we are doing to help students, and keep them safe while having their voices heard.
Some of our students are potentially planning a walkout this afternoon, encouraged by an outside group. While this is not a school-sponsored activity, we respect students' constitutional right to peaceful assembly and free expression. In order to provide for a safe and peaceful walkout, we are having police secure our campus and they will not be allowing anyone on campus who is not here for educational purposes. These plans are in place to provide a safe environment for students, should students plan to walk out this afternoon.
We have additional staff and police inside our school as well to offer students and staff an additional sense of security and support. Parents do not need to come to school. Per our safety protocols, if you need to pick up your student today, there will be support at our school entrances to help you safely pick up your child. Parents needing to pickup their student should enter on 150th St. near the Dan Patch Stadium entrance and will exit only on 154th St. (by the stop light). 150th St. is exit only for all PLHS staff.
We are still planning to meet with students during last hour and invite students to engage in a listening session with staff so that we can hear from them what they need to help fight racism in our school and create a more welcoming learning environment.
We will have a normal school dismissal today and after-school activities are still on as scheduled. We are also sharing this information with students today.
Thank you for your continued support.