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Date: 6/2/2022
LONGMEADOW – Glenbrook Middle School and Longmeadow High School students presented “action civics” projects to the School Committee. Action Civics is a program in the social studies curriculum that has students explore real-world issues and create solutions that can impact their communities.
Glenbrook Middle School Principal Nikcole Allen appeared remotely before the School Committee with students who showed off a solar cell phone charger made as a clean-energy project in an Action Civics class. Allen said the students were hoping to pilot the devices at Glenbrook Middle School or at a couple of locations in town.
School Committee members Gina Allentuck and Mary Keane praised the idea and the students’ ingenuity. Allentuck encouraged them to enter the project into science fairs and sign up for the high school robotics team, but also told them there may be liability issues if a phone is damaged.
Committee Vice Chair Bronwyn Monahan also praised the students “wanting to help people.” Committee member Jaime Hensch suggested making the chargers able to charge more than one device at a time.
Another group of Glenbrook students prepared and bagged 300 saplings for distribution to the elementary schools.
Lori Snyder, a social studies teacher at Longmeadow High School, brought four students to tell the School Committee about their action civics projects.
Two students worked on opioid overdose prevention through a naloxone training program. Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, is a medicine that can reverse an overdose if administered shortly after the opioids are taken. Working with the Longmeadow Police Department, Tapestry Health, and substance abuse counselor, a total of 25 community members and 22 classmates were trained in how to administer naloxone.
Another group focused on ableism. One of the students talked about how members of their family had disabilities and she had witnessed it first-hand. The students took a poll and 50.5 percent of LHS students reported witnessing ableism. The students then collected testimonies from their classmates. They said awareness and education are the keys to addressing the issue, so they had their teacher write a grant proposal for books on ableism. They received permission from the school libraries to stock the books.
The students proposed a district-wide “Day of Disability,” in which students would explore developmentally appropriate lessons on celebrating disabilities.
Members of the School Committee suggested ways for the students to move forward. Allentuck said she had never heard the word ableism and suggested reviewing policies with an eye toward removing ableist language or policies.