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Date: 3/23/2021
WEST SPRINGFIELD – In January, the seventh grade English classes at West Springfield middle school were assigned a project called Young Humans of West Side, inspired by the popular Humans of New York.
The projects depicted their personal stories in a similar manner to those of the popular photoblog, which showcases everyday people interviewed on the street.
“Specifically for this time period, when we are talking about just being in hybrid and teaching remotely, and we have been changing up our curriculum a little bit in grade seven, but at least right now, kids are having a tough time,” said English Department Head and Seventh grade English teacher Michelle Bonnayer.
She continued to say that they want to give children the space to share their story. “We wanted them to feel like they were getting heard because right now, a lot of them are stuck at home, and they are not seeing their friends, and life is so different for them. It gave them an opportunity to tell their story and how they are feeling right now,” Bonnayer said.
To prepare the students for this project, the teachers came up with a list of questions for the students to consider and if none of them worked, they had the option of telling their story outside of the questions.
Alexis Godden, who teaches seventh grade, shared that their questions ranged from their proudest achievement, who is their most influential person, what has been their biggest struggle, what is their biggest fear, and when have they felt the most lost.
“A lot of them did not need our questions at all. After watching the videos and talking about Brandon Stanton, showing the photos alongside the stories, I think they were really inspired. A lot of them got this project and knew what they had to do with it,” Godden said.
Deb Brown, who also teaches seventh grade, said for the teachers, it has been hard to get to know the students with the way they are teaching and said the Young Humans of West Side was a neat way to learn things about their students.
Godden said she felt like this project was the only one all year that students got into. “Before they were writing their own stories, they were already saying, ‘I like this, I like this project.’ I think it is the human connection they have been missing over the last year. It was just a feel-good project for them and us.”
Since the students were in the remote learning model when they were assigned the project, Bonnayer said that everything was done on the computer using their Google Suite stuff.
Bonnayer said they had requirements, but the project was pretty open. Students had to include a picture that spoke to what they wrote about, there was a word count of 300 words, but she shared that so many of them wrote way more than that. Once the assignment was turned in, the teachers took their pictures and text and put them together on a slide.
The teachers spoke to their students and told them that some projects would be showcased on the middle school’s Twitter page, @WSPSMiddle. Principal Dr. Peter Gillen only shares one or two projects a day to mock how Stanton posts his stories.
Brown said some submissions were very personal, but they did not choose those to be showcased.
“I think it was valuable and meaningful. It allows the community to be able to get to know our kids because so often times kids that are 11 or 12 are overlooked. They do not feel like their voices are heard, so I think it was very beneficial for the kids but also beneficial for the community to really just see the types of kids that are living in our town but also the struggles and success they deal with every day,” Bonnayer said.
Students shared a range of stories, such as missing their older sibling while they went off to college, struggling with fitting in, and being a young woman of color.
Brown said they are all proud of their students for stepping up to the project and willing to share their stories.
“I guess that level of vulnerability that Deb is mentioning is very hard for students, especially at this age group. A lot of them took that challenge and went with it,” Godden added.