Spring 2010
Boston
Bullying
Malden High School
The students in Dana Marie Brown's senior sociology class felt passionate about tackling the issue of bullying, especially after the tragic suicide of Phoebe Prince that resulted after gruesome harrassment and bullying. In order to most effectively approach this issue, the students first developed a survey of questions about bullying and administered it to all the ninth graders in their house. Then, they developed an assembly complete with information on the new Massachusetts anti-bullying legislation and a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the survey results and depicting bullying as a real issue at Malden. Finally, the students designed and printed anti-bullying posters to be hung around the school as a sustainable, lasting reminder.
The Bottle Bill
Arlington High School
Students in Mr. Pei's Honors Current Events class at Arlington High focused on recycling. As part of their school's Green Week, they took a day to educate their peers about the importance of recycling by putting up posters, making announcements, and tabling at lunchtime. They also collected hundreds of student signatures on letters to their State Representative and State Senator in support of the Massachusetts Bottle Bill.
Recycing
Boston Arts Academy
Our class decided to focus on recycling. The school had been against instituting recycling within the school because they deemed it too expensive. The students were somewhat disillusioned at first; however, they were determined to change recycling within their school. They wrote a petition explaining the need for recycling in their school, circulated it to their peers, and then passed it along to the administration. They also started a recycling bin in their own classroom to show the ease and benefits of recycling. In order to portray the benefits of recycling to their peers and administration, the students came up with a documentary and included pictures of the harmful effects waste has on the environment. They began Generation Citizen believing they had little control in their world and ended it making a difference within their school community.
Drug Abuse and Drop-Out Rates
CASH
The ROTC class at CASH worried deeply for the increasingly high drop out rate within their school and others in surrounding areas due to apathy and drug use. After brainstorming and learning the ins and outs of affecting change within the community with Generation Citizen, the students worked towards holding a school assembly on staying in school and off drugs at the end of the semester. Within the assembly, they put on an educational play, power point presentation and created the "I Stay in School and Off Drugs Pledge" stickers for their peers who signed a pledge committing themselves to staying in school and a bright future.
Stereotype Awareness
Boston Prep
The students at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School identified issues in their local communities as those most pressing to address, specifically how their peers too often apply stereotypes in their interactions with each other. The students evaluated the common stereotypes around them, from race to gender to 'neighborhood identities', and brainstormed ideas on how to bring these issues to light. As a result, the students organized a "Stereotype Awareness Day" for their own school community, and spent an entire school day running workshops, performing skits and facilitating discussions about breaking stereotypes and accepting others.
Bullying
Boston Arts Academy
The class created posters and factual lists of information, slogans, and awareness art about verbal violence and bullying in their immediate school setting. They also compiled some statistical data regarding recent state-wide anti-bullying measures.
Providence
Undocumented Citizens
Central High School
The students of Mr. Ellis' History class were concerned about undocumented citizens and obstacles facing them regarding enrolling in college, including the need of a social security number to apply, ineligibility for scholarships, and the need to pay out out state tuition for in state schools, no matter the duration of residency in said state. The students found all of this unfair, and collectively believed that no obstacles should be put in the way of intelligent and willing US residents, undocumented or otherwise, from receiving higher education, as ultimately it would be not only a personal benefit but a benefit to the state and federal governments. The students met with a member of the Student Immigration Movement (SIM). The member, who is undocumented, explained the obstacles he faced in enrolling into college, and what his future looked like after graduating (after graduation he would still not be allowed to work in the US, as he has no SSN). The students asked how they could help, and the SIM member suggested raising awareness for the DREAM Act, which is a proposition that allows undocumented students, under certain conditions, to enroll into college much easier, and also be able to receive in-state tuition. The students wrote a letter to their local representative, and drew posters which SIM used in a local rally.
Textbooks
Highlander
Our class at Highlander decided that they wanted to campaign for textbooks because their school is founded on project-based-learning and does not use them. In order to advocate for textbooks, students did a variety of things. Some students wrote letters to local politicians, such as state senator Pichardo and state representative Diaz, while others made flyers and fact sheets to distribute to the general public. At the end of the semester, the students compiled all of this information onto a poster that was made to resemble a textbook, reinforcing their passion for their issue.
Graduation Requirements
Central High School
Our class decided to work on graduation requirements. Since we had discovered a lot of confusion within our own class about the requirements, we decided to make an informational pamphlet, complete with a requirements and some FAQ.
Bus Passes
Central High School
Our class this semester worked on the issue of student bus passes. The current transportation policy at Central allows for students living outside of 3 miles from the school to receive free bus passes, but students living within 3 miles are expected to walk, drive, or pay full price for the bus. The class decided to write a petition to express support for a change in the policy, and by the end of the semester they collected over 450 signatures, which we mailed to several state and local leaders in hopes of convincing them to re-examine the policy and provide free or reduced-price bus passes to all Central students.
No Child Left Behind
Met School
Our class ended up choosing to take action on the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. The students learned about the act from their teacher Lynne, who had gone to Washington D.C. with other Met School teachers to lobby on the act. They decided that they also wished to express their views by writing letters to their members of Congress. In particular, their letters addressed their concerns with the act's heavy emphasis upon standardized testing to evaluate students and teachers, the encouragement of competition between schools as opposed to collaboration, and the importance of providing high need areas the supplies and teachers they require.
Interscholastic Sports
Met School
Our project revolved around the issue of interscholastic sports teams at the Met, which the school didn't have. The students wanted to expand athletic opportunities at the high school, which had a policy that allowed them to play at their local public schools and at rec centers but not on an official Met team. The students had a petition event where they talked to students about the issue and also engaged with school administrators on possible changes. They also did research on the current interscholastic league rules that regulate high schools in Rhode Island and were interested in changing the rules to make it easier for Met students to play sports (under the current rules, if the Met offered its own teams top athletes would no longer be able to participation at their "sending schools," which are their local public schools). A possible rule change would allow some talented students to play at sending schools, while others would be able to play on a Met team.
Hunger in Rhode Island
Hope High
The students of Ms. Rainone's Current Events class at Hope High elected to combat the issue of hunger in Rhode Island as their Generation Citizen project for the semester. They organized a food drive at Hope High, wrote to legislators proposing an addition to the RI personal income tax form which would enable people to easily donate to food banks of Rhode Island, created a Facebook group to further educate others about the issue and our efforts, and wrote an article that was published in the Hope newspaper. There were a few students who went above and beyond any expectations we'd ever had; one student, for example, went on her own time to procure additional food donations from various organizations, expanded the food drive to an elementary school, and began working on an opinion article. As a class, we heard from guest speakers Senator Metts and Farris Maxwell (procurement coordinator from the RI Community Food Bank), which was particularly empowering as they both both happened to be graduates of Hope High, and hearing their personal accounts and advice regarding how to combat our issue was unquestionably beneficial to all of us.