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(Wake County)
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Ligon Middle School, a magnet school known for its accelerated instruction and performing arts programs, is located within a low-income neighborhood in downtown Raleigh where crime and social conflict are not uncommon. While most Ligon students share an interest in the arts, differences in race and class continue to cause conflict inside the classroom. The school was featured because of its diverse student body.
Having recently garnered the distinction of having the most diverse student body in the Wake County School System, Something in Common focuses on the steps Ligon has taken to deal with its many diversity issues. Throughout the documentary, students dispense their thoughts on the schools number one problem - student on student harassment - while highlighting how the school works daily to embrace and celebrate its multicultural student body.
From the Program
Sixth grader
"Well I think our school is not in the best neighborhood in the entire world, but you want to know what? Things couldn't be better because having that kind of difference makes people think, and say - well, why are people coming in from so far away to go to school if its not perfect?"
Student
"When you get older [and] get a job there are people from all walks of life there. You [have to] start younger and start dealing with other people from different races and appreciating them being there. So I think it's very, very important."
Ruth Johnson
"The whole concept of a magnet was to, was to create diversity which was a noble goal."
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