MEDFIELD — Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden and Medfield High School Principal Robert Parga are pleased to announce the completion of several successful end-of-year grade 11 civics projects.
The civics projects are a term four grade and graduation requirement for all students enrolled in both United States History II and AP United States History courses. Students must choose an area of concern or interest to research, and the goal of the civics project is for students to learn about the process of issue advocacy in a democratic society.
In groups of two to four, MHS juniors follow steps of action to effect change. Students must identify a problem, research its causes, create a plan of action, find out who they might need to speak to in order to gather further information, and reflect on the action plan. The culminating activity is a short PSA explaining their project and what they have learned.
Some of the projects from this year’s juniors include the need for a dog park in Medfield, improved recycling efforts, and an effort to identify and urge the town’s Department of Public Works to fix potholes in town.
“Our students have responded very positively to this project,” said MHS Social Studies Department Chair and US History II teacher Kathleen Emerson. “They have seen parallels to what we’ve studied in class on a smaller scale. This project is an excellent way to make students realize that they have a voice and, as citizens, they have a responsibility to get involved where they can.”
Students even saw how their projects can have a lasting effect through one of the more impactful projects from last year. Now-seniors Luisa Brooke and Deeya Yadapadithaya researched “period poverty” — or the lack of access to menstrual products in the United States and beyond — by thinking about how much class time female students lose when they visit the school nurses for period products at MHS (particularly during COVID). The students spoke with MHS nurse Liz Bennett and her nurse team, and also spoke with local school districts and with Sen. Rausch and Rep. Garlick.
This year, bathrooms at Medfield High School are regularly stocked with menstrual products, and Brooke and Yadapadithaya continued their lobbying efforts for their senior project.
“We always encourage our students to become positive members of their school community and the greater community in which they live, and these civics projects do just that,” Superintendent Marsden said. “We applaud each student for coming up with thoughtful ideas for their projects, putting in the time and effort to research them and seeing the projects through to completion.”
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