GBP students propose ideas for their upcoming Community Action Projects (Photos by Ms. Tincher) Andrea Simoes, GBP Student
Although it is only January, we are already on to phase 2 of the CAP (Community Action Project). Taking the form of our final project, the CAP gives GBP students a chance to collaborate with other classmates in becoming agents of change themselves. This project allows us to practice the skills we have been learning throughout the year by applying them to a project that makes a positive impact on our community. The focus of the CAP is more on the process rather than the success of the project, however in the past students have been able to put plans, such as the tutoring program at Hillside, into action. Last week we had previous GBP students, Talia and Haley, come to class as guest speakers to share their insight on the CAP project. Having already been through the process, they were able to provide us with helpful advice, that will be useful as we move on from the initial stages. The first step in the CAP project was to draft a proposal outlining the issue that needs to be addressed and the reason it is important to the community. For instance, reflecting on the strong support systems that NHS students have, I focused my CAP proposal on the lack of a strong mentor system in urban areas, as I believe there role models are important for students, especially those attending inner city schools. After receiving feedback on the proposal, we then prepared to present our ideas to our classmates. We each had five minutes to explain our topic and convince the class that our issue was worth investigating. Included was information such as the research that would need to be conducted and the people that would need to be contacted. At the end of each presentation there was time for the class to ask question to gain more information regarding the scope of the issue that was to be addressed. We were asked to avoid discussing any type of solution, although sometimes conversations strayed in that direction. So far, only about twenty of the thirty one ideas have been proposed to the class, so it will be exciting to see the other issues that our classmates have brainstormed. There have already been a wide variety of different proposal topics including food policies, traffic concerns, environmental changes, and even the endangerment of bees. Looking forward, in the upcoming class period students we will be voting to pick the proposals we believe are the most feasible. The GBP teachers will use our input to make the ultimate decision regarding which issues we will be working with for the next few months. We will form groups based on our interest in the topics chosen and from there we will start the process of creating a plan and putting it into action. Hopefully, this year’s GBP class will be able to showcase some exciting final products after all the months of working on it! Leave a Reply. |
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