Mr. Herrin's AP government class recently completed a civic action project. The purpose of this project is to provide students the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the course to a real-world issue either locally, at the state level, or nationally. Students chose an issue at one of these levels they care about and conducted research on the issue itself and possible solutions. Students would then hopefully take action by going to city council meetings, sending emails or letters to officials about the issue, writing a letter to the newspaper, or completing community service to alleviate the issue.
Students would then present their work to the class. Mr. Herrin said the it is supposed to be a project that after researching an issue it would hopefully pave a path forward for the student to keep being an advocate for a solution even beyond graduation. Mr. Herrin also commented, "I wanted to do this so our kids had a focus for their community service hours because every applicant says they do community service, but I think our kids could stand out by having a tangible issue they attempted to address."
Some of the issues that students were passionate about:
Petitioning for better traffic conditions at Mill Avenue before and after school.
Recycling initiatives in Thomaston
Hygiene and laundry services for at-risk youth
Community initiatives for homeless and food shelter
Petition for better traffic safety around Park St playground
Wage inequality between genders
City officials were so impressed by the number of AP government students who reached out over issues that they contacted Mr. Herrin and ULHS to set up a Q&A Thursday for students who were available. Mayor J.D. Stallings, city manager Russell Thompson, and Human Resources Director for the City of Thomaston, Dani Jefferson.
This is a wonderful example of when education works the best. You have a teacher who creates an assignment that encourages students to put their hearts into it, and then the community's response to their work, in turn, inspires the students to continue working harder. Thank you so much to Mayor Stallings, Mr. Thompson and Ms. Thompson for volunteering their time to come speak with our students.
S
