Activism

Inspired by a TED Talk, a teacher mobilizes his entire school community to plant an urban garden.

A pair of news stories this week reported that students were being silenced and punished when they attempted to speak up for others. This is disappointing.

I am in awe of young people.

Today, for example, I read about a group of teens in Louisville, Ky. who continued to speak on LGBT issues. High school students from duPont Manual High School were censored for writing about gay issues, but they refused to let their voices be silenced. They decided to run an underground paper, The Red Pen, and won the annual Courage in Student Journalism Award. 

Every autumn, on an evening around dusk, a luminary-lit path appears on campus. Dozens of students gather for inspiration in their social justice work. They celebrate peace. Planned and executed by the students, this Peace Vigil includes readings, performances, art installations and demonstrations.

Few of us really ever have to answer the question, “What am I willing to risk my life for.”

Malala Yousafzai, 11, did answer.

In the years since they graduated from middle school, several of my former students earned the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. I was proud of them. I read their stories in the local paper and was inspired by the various ways in which these young men improved our community. Each time, their accomplishments and selflessness impressed me. Earning the highest rank in Boy Scouts of America is an admirable achievement.

Ava, an 8th-grade student in my after-school creative writing class came to me to discuss a story she was working on. She was writing a fictional story about a gay teenager who struggles with his sexuality and coming out. Even early on in the process, I was impressed with her ability to look at this story as a complex study in understanding—giving a voice to, and respectfully exploring, the conflicts of a gay teen.

This past February, our school abandoned the traditional Valentine’s Day love note exchange, opting instead to encourage school-wide participation in a new activity we called the “Valentine’s Day Apology Note Project.”