LYNNFIELD HIGH SCHOOL sophomores, from left, April Sun, Siri Tudi and Jenna Supino proudly display their project about diversifying school libraries during the Civics Action Projects Winter Showcase in the gym on March 13. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Civic engagement took center stage in the Lynnfield High School gym during the third annual Civics Action Projects Showcase on March 13.
The high school’s Civic Action Projects involve having sophomores undertake a project that raises awareness about different issues in the community, state, country and world. The showcase featured groups of sophomores displaying their projects on tables. Over the course of the hour-long showcase, sophomores answered questions from their peers, educators, town officials, residents and House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading) about their respective projects.
“The kids did a great job this year,” said LHS history/social sciences teacher David Forster. “I was impressed with the different ideas that students came up with for their projects. The students worked with community members, which was really nice to see.”
LHS history/social sciences teacher Jen Goguen agreed.
“The students did a great job helping the Lynnfield community learn about the different issues they studied for their projects,” said Goguen.
LHS sophomores Siri Tudi, April Sun and Jenna Supino undertook a project about diversifying school libraries.
“Our Civics Action Project was based around discrimination,” said Siri. “Our question was how do we combat discrimination through education? We sent out a survey to students in seventh through 12th grade. We learned that most of the students at Lynnfield Middle School do not interact with media outside of their own culture. We wanted to address that by diversifying school libraries.”
Siri said the group “decided to create a cultural spotlight at the LMS Media Center” in order to diversify the library.
“We decorated bookcases and spotlighted various different books that were centered around Latin America culture or Latin American characters,” said Siri. “We also put books that were originally written in English that were translated into Spanish on display. If a student read one of the books in English previously, they can pick it up and know what is going on. Hopefully it will increase students’ language proficiency. We hope to get grants from various organizations so we can purchase more books about different cultures.”
Sophomores Zachary Evangelista and Michael Marenghi undertook a project about the housing crisis. Zachary said the group interviewed a variety of people, including his brother who lives in Georgia, for the project.
“The housing crisis is a very big issue everywhere,” said Zachary. “The price of housing is out of control.”
LHS sophomores Marianna Axiotakis, Rocco Scenna and Zahir Mitchell undertook a project on the mental health challenges many student-athletes face. Marianna plays for the volleyball and softball teams. Rocco suits up for the defending Division 4 state champion boys’ soccer team. Zahir plays football, basketball and runs with the spring track team.
“We are all student-athletes, and we know from personal experience that it is very difficult balancing being a student and being an athlete,” said Marianna. “We wanted to look more into the topic because there are a lot of student-athletes who struggle a lot more. It’s not really talked about, and we wanted to talk about it.”
Lynnfield High launched the Civics Action Projects’ initiative three years ago after former Gov. Charlie Baker signed “An Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement” into law in 2018. The law requires public high schools and middle schools to offer a nonpartisan civics project to students.
House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) was impressed with the different projects the sophomores created.
“The Civics Action Projects Showcase is a terrific event that I look forward to attending every year,” stated Jones in an email sent to the Villager. “The sophomore students at Lynnfield High School once again did an outstanding job researching and preparing their presentations, which this year covered a diverse range of topics, including social media privacy, the state’s housing crisis, drunk driving and the challenges associated with maintaining adequate hospital staffing levels. I enjoyed having the opportunity to interact directly with the students to discuss their projects and to learn more about their findings. Having a well-rounded civics education is essential for preparing students to play an active role in their communities, and the teaching staff at LHS continues to do an incredible job helping to provide them with a solid foundation they can build on for the future.”
Forster said sophomores reached out to community members and representatives from different groups in order to learn more about the topic they selected. He said the civics projects featured topics related to the environment, mental health, self-advocacy, social media and substance use.
“It’s a research project, but it’s an indirect research project where the students reached out to different people, interviewed people, conducted surveys and tried to learn information in many different ways,” said Forster. “The students went on different paths while working on their projects, which was great.”
Goguen said the sophomores were put into groups that were based on the topics they wanted to study.
“From there, students started brainstorming and thinking about the big picture for their projects,” said Goguen. “Students created interview questions and reached out to local, state and even national groups to get information. Many students conducted surveys and did research on their own.”
The Civics Action Projects that sophomores created blew LHS Principal Patricia Puglisi away.
“This is such a great opportunity for our kids to delve into a real world topic that they are interested in,” said Puglisi. “Students learned how to make change in our community and beyond. The kids were really dedicated to their projects. It’s true authentic learning.”
LHS Assistant Principal Michael McLeod was also impressed by the projects.
“It’s a great opportunity to make change within the school system,” said McLeod. “I met with a handful of these groups. We have a group who wants to meet with parents to educate them about vaping. We have another group that is looking to educate parents on what to look for when it comes to substance use. The Civics Action Projects are a great opportunity for students to learn.”
Goguen thanked residents, educators, staff, administrators, community groups and A Healthy Lynnfield for helping the sophomores undertake their respective Civics Action Projects. She said administrators, teachers and support staff from all four schools assisted students with their projects.
“I think it is very rewarding for students,” said Goguen. “They feel a sense of satisfaction after going through the whole process and talking to people about what they learned over the last six weeks.”
Forster also said the students learned how to develop real life skills by creating their projects.
“They collaborated with classmates who they are not close with, which is really important,” said Forster. “Students learned how to problem-solve, think creatively and work in a different way than they are used to in class.”
Goguen said the Civics Action Projects taught sophomores skills that will transcend the topics they researched.
“Students learned how to write a thank you note after meeting with someone,” said Goguen. “Students learned to how to write interview questions and how to present themselves when interviewing someone about a topic. Those are important life skills for students to learn.”