Archive: Around Town

New Roots seniors Emily Feavearyear and Soren Mortensen had a novel idea for their required graduation project. They wanted to teach a class at their own school. Now they (and teacher Maria Gimma) are not only instructing their peers in a year-long elective, but they are also taking their interactive presentation to Ithaca High School, to Wells College and Tompkins Community College this April 12th, and—they hope again—to Washington D.C.

All seniors at New Roots must carry out a "Capstone Project" that demonstrates the skills and knowledge they've learned in high school. Emily & Soren's idea of designing and teaching their own class came from a course during 11th grade that taught the principles of humanitarian law. As a class, they developed an education campaign to teach other youth about child soldiers. Impressed with their work, last year the American Red Cross invited the students to present and compete with other student groups at a human rights conference in Washington D.C.

They came to the event prepared an education campaign titled 'Jane is a Child Soldier'" with the curriculum presented and written in English and Spanish. Just last week, they received notification that the Red Cross has decided to publish their work in a youth activity guide for RedCrossYouth.org.

International Humanitarian Law classes and education campaigns for high schools are a regular program for the Red Cross, however this is the only program run by the students themselves. Normally college students and faculty carry out the instruction. Initially, Cornell and Ithaca College students facilitated the class. New Roots Charter School is the only high school in the state offering an International Humanitarian Law as a credit-bearing class.

This year's campaign theme is 'Inequality In Gender Issues In Areas Of Conflict.' The students are teaching humanitarian law through the experiences of a girl hiding her elder brother who is a conscious objector.  Through an interactive presentation with the audience, students describe the humanitarian law principles relevant to the girl and her brother as they are arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and become a war refugees. Also remarkable is that the students have aligned their course with New York State's Social Studies Standards and the Common Core Curriculum.

The students, their parents and school staff are proud of their work. They exemplify how New Root's community-based, experiential learning creates opportunities for students to learn and succeed in the real word.

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