Be the Change

Dear Families,

Several times this year, I’ve written about the eighth grade social justice project “Choosing to Participate,” which has become a cornerstone of the eighth grade humanities curriculum. The culminating event of this project took place this past Wednesday, as the the eighth graders ran two assemblies and facilitated workshops for the fifth through seventh graders. The day’s events were not only exceedingly well-executed, but also challenged middle schoolers to think deeply about a range important social justice issues and asked participants to consider how each individual can make a difference. This work reflected substantial research done by the eighth graders over the past few months and included significant volunteering opportunities at the following organizations:

In the opening assembly, the eighth graders provided some important context to help frame the day’s activities. Click here to view the video.

They also shared their public service posters, which were created in core and art (these posters are also on display in the lobby and outside of the eighth grade rooms) and performed an original song written by Lenny whose lyrics appear below:

eating drinking breathing living life

eating drinking breathing living life
that’s the way were told to give and strive
light the fire but don’t think to put it out anytime
volunteering strong with all your might
fighting sickness helping women’s rights
you got to learn to take your part in society

you’ve got to wipe the tears
and volunteer
for faith and peace
and justice please
don’t take what you can break
it’ll be your mistake
its for others sake
there are people at stake

gun violence seems to tear us up
our economy isn’t high enough
world hunger is eating us all alive all the time
why not take a look at the world today
with all our help we’ll be ok
but not when the wind of hate
blows us all away

you’ve got to wipe the tears
and volunteer
for faith and peace
and justice please
don’t take what you can break
it’ll be your mistake
its for others sake
there are people at stake

The morning assembly concluded with a moving speech given to UN delegates in 1992 by 12-year-old Severn Cullis Suzuki.

Following the assembly, fifth through seventh graders participated in two hour-long workshops facilitated by the eight graders. The following descriptions of the workshops give you a clear sense of the richness and depth of the morning’s activities:

  • Free the Freedom in a Square: In this workshop, we will write out loud! We will go out to Little Red Square and express ourselves using sidewalk chalk, sidewalk paint, and our own opinions about freedom of expression and freedom of speech. We will create a “democracy wall”, answering the question, “What does freedom of expression mean to you?” You will draw, write, or create, liberating your inner voice. People will stop and stare at the art we’ve all made; all you need is your imagination!
  • Chocolate for Change: In this workshop we will talk about the ongoing and very important issue of world hunger, and hunger in NYC. We will show you a brief presentation on the topic and then we will make chocolate-covered pretzels to donate to The Village Temple Soup Kitchen. Your work will allow those served at this soup kitchen to have a dessert with their meal, and you will also learn how to make these treats!
  • Repairing Hunger — One Grain At A Time: People in this workshop will learn about hunger in both NYC and around the world. We will show you a website filled with online quiz games about math, science, geography, foreign language that help feed the hungry while you play! For every question you get right, 10 grains of rice get donated to the World Food Programme. In this workshop, you will have fun, make a difference, and go for the high score!
  • A Pencil Per Person: All over NYC, kids go to school without the basic school supplies they need to function effectively as students. Our organization, Getting Tools to City Schools, raises money and collects supplies to donate to these students. Come and decorate pencils and stamp them with facts about our organization and its mission. These pencils will be circulated around the school, spreading awareness and inspiring others to get involved with our campaign. You will walk away entertained, informed, and having made creative pencils that make a difference!
  • Justice Jeopardy: Did you know that the largest epidemic in our time is preventable? Did you know that you cannot get HIV/AIDS from shaking hands? What is the difference between HIV and AIDS? What does AIDS stand for anyway? Come and play your favorite game: Jeopardy, while answering these questions and learning more about these four key categories: the difference between HIV and AIDS, HIV and AIDS prevention, discrimination towards people with HIV and AIDS, and testing your HIV/AIDS knowledge. Finally, find out how to be a part of the LREI AIDS Walk Team!
  • Changing the World One Book at a Time: Are you a person who loves kids? Are you the one who’s always trying to teach them new things? Do you appreciate the gift of literacy? If so, you will love Changing the World One Book at a Time. In this workshop, you’ll be educated about the importance of childhood literacy, learn the secrets to a great read-aloud, and find out strategies to make reading with children more beneficial. You’ll get time to try out these skills with a trip down to a Lower School classroom where you will read to kids!
  • Love Your Heart: Have you ever wondered what’s in that buff, blood-pumpin’ organ you call a heart? Well, we have got the answers! You will learn about the organ that keeps you alive, and how to keep your food heart-healthy. You will be able explore different types of mid-day munchies and see what mutant sugar monsters they actually are. After our discoveries we will play Battle of the Heart! Will YOU win?
  • Stitching Up The Facts About AIDS: Come and use your head to learn and your hands to decorate and sew! This workshop has everything you need to know about what’s true and false about HIV and AIDS. Once you have some knowledge, we will sew up the facts by making a quilt together! You will create quilt patches with your own drawings and words that will educate others about HIV/AIDS. Your unique quilt will be hung up in the Middle School for our whole community to see and from which to learn!
  • Gender Bender — Empower Yourself in the Face of the Media: How do advertisements affect you as a male or a female? How do they use stereotypes? How can you become empowered instead of subject to the ad’s power? In this workshop, we will examine advertisements targeted towards men and ones towards women. Based upon what we see, we will write skits that show what an average woman/man is like and then also what a woman/man can really be if given room to move beyond stereotypes. Empower yourself to make up your own mind about gender stereotypes and the media!
  • In Harm’s Way: Stop Gun Violence: Guns seem cool. James Bond uses guns and so does the American soldier in the videogame “Call of Duty.” Guns are made to seem fascinating, exciting and fun. The facts are, however, that guns do terrible things such as harm, hurt, and kill people all over the world. In our workshop, you will learn more about the effects of gun violence in NYC and how to stop it. You will learn that everybody has a voice against gun violence in our society. Take back the power and use your voice while having fun. We will create skits, make posters and songs, and play trivia games that will educate others to stand up for those in harm’s way due to guns.

Click here to view photos from the workshops.

The day concluded with a reflection activity and a final assembly in which several of the groups shared ways in which our middle school community will continue to take action on these issues (more on this to follow). A reflection by activist Severn Cullis Suzuki on her journey concluded the eighth graders’ stewardship of the day:

I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken…In the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, ‘We must become the change we want to see.’ I know change is possible.”

Real change depends on us. We can’t wait for our leaders. We have to focus on what our own responsibilities are and how we can make the change happen. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change. Over the last few years, after Rio, I was invited to many, many different conferences. Over time I’ve realized: this is not where we’re going to see change. We’ve seen positive activism happening in the last ten years at the grassroots level, in small communities. It’s about the individuals that make up the statistics about consumption and pollution, as well as the people who feel the negative impact, who are actually going to be the change. It is powerful, because you realize that each individual really does count. And the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that each person is a role model to all the people around us. Not only the children, but everybody. That’s how cultures evolve and things change because the influence of a few individuals catches on.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the influence of our eighth graders was profoundly felt by their peers and teachers during this year’s “Teach-In.” Well done!

Congratulations also to the members of the Model Congress team! More on their efforts in next week’s blog.

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