Yesterday morning, I accompanied my friends Rita Miller and Betty Stoltz to the New Horizons Middle School, which is located at PS32 on Hoyt Street.
Teachers Michael Templeton and Anna Gutman are working with a group of students on 'Project Connect,' which encourages young people to get involved, help, and build a better community.
Rita and Betty had been invited to speak about their own involvement and activism. I joined them to give the students a few tips on how to use blogging as a way of getting their message out to others.
I was impressed by students Nicole Rosario, Keesha Hale and Alex Wells. They spoke of interviewing local residents about the presidential race as well as what they thought of Barack Obama as our new president. ( Their result: Most were happy about his presidency.)
Another survey taken by the children revealed that the community is concerned about the Gowanus Canal and its polluted state. So the group of students has tackled the issue with the help of their teachers. It would appear that these young people know more about the canal than some of our politicians.
The students walked around the Gowanus and took photos of the canal area like the one below. Then, they posed themselves these questions:
1) What do you notice about the community from these photos?
2) What do the photos make you want to DO?
3) If you had unlimited money and materials, what is one thing you would do for your community? Why?
2) What do the photos make you want to DO?
3) If you had unlimited money and materials, what is one thing you would do for your community? Why?
It was inpiring to see these young people really care about the issues facing their neighborhood.
Their activism should be encouraged. So please, go to their web site here and let them know that their voices count and that we need them to be part of the discussion.
And of course, a big thank you to their wonderful teachers who obviously bring out the best in their young charges.
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3 comments:
Great Story!
There is so much HOPE in a story like this. It's great to see there soon-to-be-citizens asking questions about their community. They should take it to the next level and ask those questions of the elected officials who are supposed to be looking out for the health of this community.
Thank you so much for coming to see the great work these students are involved in here at New Horizons MS442. We are just getting started but we were inspired by your words of encouragement, your comments and your advice. We would also like to thank you for showing us what you do and how you make a difference.
-Ms.Gutman, Mr.Templeton, Ms.Contrino, Akeisha, Alex & Nicole
Hello to New Horizon!
The pleasure was all mine.
I was so happy to meet you and the students last week.
I am glad to see young people get involved and ask questions about their immediate community.
Teaching outside of the classroom is so valuable and sadly, does not happen often enough. I am glad these students have the opportunity to apply what they learn in school to the 'real' world.
Keep up the great work and stay in touch.
Regards, Katia
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