Royal Spotlight: La’Dajia Davis

La’Dajia Davis, senior, summoned all her courage to recite a poem at the Winter Pep-Fest.

The poem, ‘The Average Black Girl’, originally written by Ernestine Johnson, was chosen for its connectedness to Black History Month.

“The poem was my anthem in 9th grade when I didn’t go to school with people like me. I think that it’s a poem anyone can relate to, regardless of race or gender. I had a guy come up to me afterward and say he could relate, which was really cool,” Davis said.

Davis moved to HHS from the Minnetonka school district at the beginning of her Sophomore year in search of more diversity, and an opportunity to meet students more like her.

“I came from a school that’s way less diverse than this school, there were a lot of stereotypes. I wanted to bring light to all the different types of people that can exist within one school when I came to Hopkins,” Davis said.

After discovering she was unable to join HHS Student Government, having missed the elections, Davis was determined to make an impact on HHS elsewhere.

“I decided to just create something of my own that would let me do the things I wanted to do in Student Government,” Davis said.

Davis joined forces with three peers and came together to found HHS Responds, a club dedicated to making HHS a more inclusive environment for all students.

Under Davis’ leadership, the club has grow immensely, and is a leading voice for HHS students. The group has organized events including student Cultural Linguistic Response training and a fishbowl discussion to alleviate post election tensions. HHS Responds also lead the effort to bring gender neutral bathrooms to HHS, and consistently brings culture to HHS through their Music Mondays.

Outside of her club, Davis is active in every aspect of life at HHS. She is a rugby player, a National Honors Society member, and a peer mentor.

Next year, Davis will leave HHS and go on to college, although she isn’t yet sure where she will go. However, she intends to make as great a mark wherever she ultimately lands as she did at HHS.