Social justice study gets results

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Lessons to last a lifetime: that's what ninth graders at Cache La Poudre Junior High took away from their pre-advanced placement English class this past spring with teacher Carron Silva.

The last week of school, the students embarked on a 24-hour fast to call attention to the problem of homelessness. It was the culmination of a six-week unit on social justice, during which the class studied issues from child labor and racism to poverty and its roots. While fasting, the students volunteered at the ARC thrift store.

The students gathered pledges in support of their fast, raising $1,000 for the local Homelessness Prevention Initiative. Sue Beck-Ferkiss, executive director of HPI, said the donation will be used for rental assistance. It's enough to keep four local families in their homes.

Each student in Silva's class researched a social justice issue through books or journal articles, then presented a speech about the topic to the class. Finally, the class chose a hands-on project addressing one of the issues.

Homelessness was chosen because one of the class members had experienced this predicament himself. His classmates did not know prior to his speech on homelessness that he had dealt with that kind of challenge in his life.

"It was an eye-opener," said class member Dara Knutson.

Learning from personal experience is powerful, Beck-Ferkiss noted. "The kind of learning you get when someone in your own peer group has experienced hardship is life-long," she said.

Meghan Aranda suggested the idea of a fast-a-thon to raise funds for HPI.

"This project started out as just another final project," she wrote in a follow-up essay. "But as the class learned more about each other, the world that surrounds us, and how we all have to take responsibility, that idea changed. The project was something that we were passionate about and excited to do."

Class member Nola, who preferred not to have her last name used, normally has a huge appetite and found the fast to be a bit painful. But she learned through the experience that "every little bit counts. Just a few hours here and there can really make a difference."

Other class members also took home powerful lessons from the exercise.

"During this project we learned about ourselves as we opened our eyes (and our stomachs) to how people in need feel," said Sarah Bibbey. "Acts of kindness like this are what keep the world going."