Central Kitsap High School Alumni Chellie Labonete is a part of an organization to Stop Sexual Assault in K-12 Schools. She took the time to tell us about her role in the organization, as well as her individual accomplishments within the community.

“We work around the federal law called the Title IX, which states that no federally funded club or activity can discriminate on the basis of sex” Labonete revealed. This law is also applied in regards to having equal amount of boys and girls sports teams. As a part of the advisory board, she explained how her work was very flexible, and she was able to explore what she was good at.

Labonete was very active as a high school student, “I started the Gender Equality Today club my senior year, which led to my role in the organization afterwards.” Furthermore, her current work is based around so, including speaking at Olympic College in the diversity conference.

“Discussing a topic like Sexual Assault and discrimination can be hard to talk about, especially in the smaller crowd I was presenting to, it feels more personal” Labonete explained. She prepared a 45 minute video to share with audience, in an effort to bring awareness to the topic and recognition to the organization she works with.

In addition to the conference she spoke at over the summer, Labonete also leads a Facebook group for young activists against sexual assault. “I created it around June, and currently we have 44 members” she explained.

Students at Central Kitsap High school should feel safe on campus as well as at home. If anyone is suffering from sexual harassment, there are counselors at school who can help as well as a supportive community to turn to.