COLUMN: Students Speak Out for Education
The words and actions of one teenager inspired St. Matthew’s students to “Speak Out for Education” earlier this month.
After watching trailers for “He Named Me Malala,” the film that tells the story of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai after being shot by the Taliban for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education in her homeland, St. Matt’s teacher Kimberly Weaver and fellow teachers organized Speak Out for Education Day — a fast-paced, spontaneous day of workshops, brainstorming and collaboration for the middle schoolers.
Regular classes were canceled and eight teams of six students appointed representatives within their ranks to attend a bevy of teacher-facilitated workshops to help them research, strategize and create group presentations with the mission of answering such provocative questions as why education is important and where the drive to learn originates.
Students also got a taste of adversity when they were compelled to do without things they might typically take for granted.
For example, after being told to bring in a favorite personal item for free time that day, they were denied being able to use any of those items at recess ... or balls, or sports equipment of any kind.
One forlorn student asked, “Can I play with this rock?”
Students experienced how it feels to have to do without and how to make do with little, just as millions of fellow students around the world must every day.
In just two and a half hours, by uploading and sharing in Google Docs what they learned in the workshops, the energized teams regrouped and were able to create multimedia presentations. Each team compared education in America with that in a chosen foreign country — France, Finland, China, Ghana, India, Afghanistan, Australia or Peru — and made their case for both the value and privilege of education.
Their presentations were given during an afternoon school assembly with parents also in attendance.
As one of three panelists tasked with a rubric of criteria for evaluating these eight presentations, I can assure you it was a challenge to just keep up with the abundance of information the teams disseminated in the limited time they had.
The students approached their topic with sincerity, enthusiasm and spunk and the audience and the panel were both educated and entertained.
The Friday afternoon assembly hurried to a close as the bell rang and the students hustled into the halls and headed back to their classrooms at the end of a busy school day and week.
Hats off to these young people who approach a hectic day with guts and gusto. They showed that, like Malala, great things happen when you speak out for what you believe in.
Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.