On Wednesday, MICDS hosted the Diversity Leadership Conference, welcoming students from high schools Nerinx Hall, McCluer North, Webster Groves, Clayton, and Miriam Academy to our Upper School campus. “We host this conference to fill a need not only at our own school but within the St. Louis community as a whole,” says Nicole Trueman-Shaw, Director of Upper School Student Leadership & Dean of Students. “Students learn about the stories, experiences, perspectives, and needs of peers from around the area to promote knowledge, understanding, and informed leadership,” she says. The Diversity Leadership Conference is designed to allow students to share unique experiences from their communities and ponder how it shapes their perspectives of St. Louis and of the world. These interactions are “important for the development of empathy, critical thinking, and creating genuinely inclusive school environments,” says Ms. Trueman-Shaw.
The conference is organized and led by MICDS Upper School students. Eighty students, 40 from MICDS and 40 from the other schools, gathered in the Upper School Dining Hall before the group split, with half traveling to the Missouri History Museum and the other half remaining on campus. While at the museum, students explored the Mill Creek: Black Metropolis exhibit. Following lunch, the groups switched places.
The Diversity Leadership Conference challenges students to consider how unique experiences shape the way individuals live and operate in the world. Ms. Trueman-Shaw emphasizes that “after each breakout session or activity, we ask students, ‘what story is this information telling us, and how does it interact with your own story?’”
The conference is planned by the MICDS iDentity Club Co-Heads, who include Aiyla Ahmad ’26, Akira Washington ’26, and Andrew Li ’28. “Student leaders decide on the topics and activities that will take place,” says Ms. Trueman-Shaw. No adults lead any of the lessons or activities. “The students run the show.”
Thank you to all those who planned, participated, and made the 2026 Student Diversity Leadership Conference possible!