As the tradition continues, students got the opportunity to attend the Q-Quest. Each year many students at school participate in an event called Q-quest. Q-quest is an event that is run by the Minnesota School Outreach Coalition (MSOC) to host gender queer and trans students in Minnesota and neighboring states that participate in many activities throughout the day ranging from drag shows to custom wood burning.

This year Q-quest was held on Wednesday November 13, ten students went from SPA. In his third year of attending this conference, Sophomore Jack Bettenberg enjoyed his time at Q-quest, “The environment was, really, comforting, because it was a lot of people who have a lot of shared experiences,” Bettenberg said.

He also felt inclusion, “You [could] go alone to a place, and not with your friends, [..] sit down at your table and [everyone] is really friendly and it felt like they were your friends right away” Bettenberg said.

Junior Nijah Johnson also had a good experience at the conference “I saw and met a lot of cool people like Drag Queens/Kings and people who do Ballroom. I even met Sharmane Lenoir, who is Miss Trans Minnesota 2024. There were plenty of things to do like workshops that involved meaningful conversations or just rooms to play games in.” Johnson said.

This conference was an opportunity for gender queer and trans students at our school to spend time with other students from around the state to come together and enjoy times with people that share common experiences.If interested in attending this conference next year contact Mr.Somes or Ms.Weinstock-Collins for more information.