My Social Justice students are 9th-12th graders representing our diverse, semi-urban high school. The Social Justice class is a place for youth activists to come together and solve issues in their community. We aspire to make our school and district a more equitable place for all.
Youth Participatory Action Research (or YPAR) serves as the framework for our semester of coursework.
At our high school, we have used YPAR to advocate for more equitable school policies. Together, students and teachers identify real issues at our school and work to creatively and collaboratively problem-solve to bring about change.
Each year brings a different and diverse group of students who use their identities, experiences, and perspectives to inform the discussions and topics we choose. Topics in previous years have explored the diversity of our teaching staff, student access to AP courses, the fairness of our dress code policy, and the feasibility of forming a student union.
My Project
At our high school, access to technology is limited. My students need to be able to access the Internet and Google Drive on a daily basis in order to access scholarly articles, email administrators and community members to set up exploratory interviews, write and send out surveys, and keep track of and prepare their data. Having six Chromebooks available would allow each group of students to have a machine to work on.
Although the primary need exists within my Social Justice class, my other English and Psychology classes would also have access to these Chromebooks, which will be stored in my classroom.
This work is transformative for students because it allows them to work on issues that matter to them, and it gives them a forum to be heard.
Their work has also been important to our school as we move forward together.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Koritz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
