Fall 2009
Boston
Recycling
Community Academy for Science and Health (CASH)
The students at CASH decided to focus on global warming, and were horrified when they realized that over 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away each year in the country, and that their school did not have an official recycling program. They researched the issue, created brochures, posters, t-shirts, and a music video to spread awareness throughout their school. CASH is now adopting a formal recycling program for all its classes.
Community Pride
Malden High School
Students recognized that in order for positive cha nge to occur, community members must feel a sense of solidarity and pride. They lamented the fact that little of this pride occurs in Malden, a town outside of Boston, and set about to change the unfortunate reality. They researched the illustrious history of the town, met with city officials, and decided to paint a mural in the town which would create their desired sense of community pride.
Teen Pregnancy
Charlestown High School
Students at Charlestown High School recognized that teen pregnancy is an issue that affects more and more Boston-area teens, but is rarely talked about. They met with a representative from a local non-profit, which alerted them to a campaign to ensure that the state government maintains and increases its levels of funding for resources for teen parents. The students wrote letters to the Governor and local legislators, asking them to maintain funding for resources such as shelters, day cares, nutrition programs, and support groups.
Absence Policy
Malden High School
Malden High School’s absence policy states that if a student misses class three times during the course of a semester, they fail the class. The students at Malden felt that the policy was unfair; it penalized students who had legitimate reasons for missing class, and three absences was an excessively low number. They formulated a new policy, which included excused absences and a higher number of allowed absences, and met with school officials, who are now considering changing the policy.
Nutritious Lunches
Malden High School
Malden High School students were frustrated that their cafeteria continually serves unhealthy food, which can be detrimental to the students’ health. The students surveyed their entire school, contacted other students from neighboring schools, and determined this was a city-wide problem. They met with school and cafeteria administrators, presented their findings, and are in the process of trying to change school lunch policy.
Violence
Charlestown High School
Students at Charlestown High School lamented the extreme amounts of violence in their community, both domestically and in gangs. They discussed reasons why violence continues to occur, and articulated strategies to lessen its influence, including listening to others and spreading awareness of resources for victims. They created posters, and spread awareness of existing resources throughout their school.
Domestic Abuse
Brighton High School
Recognizing the fact that many of them and their peers had been exposed to domestic abuse, the students at Brighton High School decided to form a group called: “A3 – ABUSED and ABUSERS ANONYMOUS.” The group would be would be an after school program free for high school students who would like to come, socialize, and discuss domestic violence issues. A3 meetings could be broken up into an open-up and share session, a get-help or advice session, a go out in the community and spread awareness session, and a website development session. The students have formulated a plan, and are currently in the process of starting the group.
Providence
Gang Violence
Central High School
Recognizing the deep and continuing problems of gang violence in Providence, and their dire effect on youth, two Central High School classes focused on the issue. After much discussion, one of the classes realized that a root cause of violence is a lack of preventative measures; students do not know how to channel their anger, and instead, act out violently. This class designed an entire lesson plan focusing on teaching students how to control their anger. They met with school administrators and distributed the lesson plans, and every teacher in the school is now planning on carrying out the lesson. The other class wrote an opinion article, in which they detailed their own experiences with gang violence, and suggested youth-centered programs, such as those that have been started in Chicago, and possible policy remedies to the continuing problem of gang violence.
After School Activities
Times Squared Academy
Our students at Times 2 Academy were frustrated by the lack of available after-school activities. After conducting research on the importance of after school activities to academic success, the students conducted a large survey, in which they asked over 200 of their peers about the state of after school programming. They discovered that only 10% of the student body was satisfied with the current after-school offerings, but over 90% would participate if a formal program existed. They made a formal presentation on their findings to the School Improvement Team, who agreed to adopt some of their recommendations, and is moving forward on creating official and effective after-school programming.
Student Employment
Alvarez High School
Recognizing the fragile state of the economy, students recognized that they were having a lot of trouble gaining meaningful employment, necessary to support their families. After conducting research and interviewing their peers, this class planned an entire job fair for a Saturday afternoon. They helped students write resumes, fill out job applications, research existing opportunities, and conducted sample job interviews.
Recycling
Central High School
Central High School students researched the importance of recycling, and recognized the great value that just ensuring that paper is recycled can provide for the larger problem of global warming. The students created an entire recycling competition for their school, asking each class to recycle all their paper for an entire week. The class that recycled the most paper received a pizza party.
School Budget Process
Cooley High School
Students were frustrated that their voices were not being heard as part of the larger school budget process; they wanted a say in where their educational money was being distributed. The students formulated a policy plan in which school administrators would be required to share the budget with the student council before finalizing the plan. The students met with administrators, and are continuing their campaign to ensure that students are involved in deciding how education money is spent.
Drop-Out Crisis
Alvarez High School
Students at Alvarez conducted research and recognized that 1/3 of American high school students are dropping out of school before graduating from high school. The students talked to drop-out students and school administrators, and recognized that one of the main problems is a lack of student awareness on the importance of staying in school. The class created brochures, enumerating the powerful rationale for graduating from high school, and distributed them to every student in the school.
Cafeteria Food
Alvarez High School
Students at Alvarez were unhappy with the quality and diversity of their cafeteria options. They met with cafeteria and school officials, conducted research on Rhode Island nutritious food standards, and composed a plan to accomplish their goals, which included providing a comments box in the cafeteria, and having a semesterly “Cultural Food Day.” Both recommendations will be implemented.
Minority Health Care
George Hunt School
After reading about health care in the news, students at George Hunt realized that minorities were disproportionately affected by the country’s health care crisis. The students made one-page fliers, which were given out to all students at the final presentations, and made a number of recommendations, including increasing diversity in the health professions, enhancing the role of two-year colleges in preparing students for careers in health, and increasing federal spending on supporting diversity health care programs.