"More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness."
-Charlie Chaplin
As we move towards the end of the school year, we will remember to balance kindness and cleverness. It’s easier to make that balance happen when we recognize and lift up the great work in our community
Grade 12 English Humanities students went to the State House to talk with State Rep Sam Montano. This field trip is a great example of connecting our students' learning to authentic community issues while also having their voices heard. Two groups presented their Participatory Action Research on inflation and Mental Health. The seniors have been invited back to present their testimonies and EOY proposal to support State Rep. Sam Montalvo’s THRIVE Act that aims to replace top-down, harmful policies with a student and community-centered system of assessment and improvement. Three more seniors were invited to present their proposal (for a second time) at a virtual summit “Cultivating a School-to-Possibility Pipeline in MA” on Wednesday, March 29th.
Students in our 11th and 12th grade Media Class had an enlightening and empowering class into real-time recording as they visited The Record Co. on Mass. Ave. in Boston. That studio is dedicated to the belief in the power of music creation to bring people together and to build a shared understanding across differences. This was the perfect place for Mr. Emiel’s class to understand the technology that could enhance their creativity as they put down their poems, raps, beats and sounds to music and rhythms to make meaningful statements. Students are now more motivated to explore further into this type of media creation.
Last week, three of our seniors presented their research work at the School to Possibility Pipeline in a virtual event with over 200 participants. Many agencies and partners across the Commonwealth presented their ideas in this important conversation. Our students were the youth presenters, fulfilling the type of leadership we are looking to create for the future of Boston. Bravo!
Lorena Gondres, Karla Salinas and Gabriel Brown, also known as the “Golden Girls,” are a team of three seniors at Margarita Muñiz Academy, Boston’s dual language high school. This presentation began as a project for English Humanities class and became very important to them. They started with research on the School to Prison Pipeline, conducted interviews of students who attended several Boston schools, started noticing patterns within the schools, and presented to a member of the district’s Restorative Justice team. The topic grew on them and they realized it affects them personally because of their backgrounds and see it as a root to even bigger long-term issues. They are trying to fight for a solution to this problem since there aren’t a lot of people doing so.
Festejo Muñiz is less than a month away! Join us in celebrating student success at a Latino party with dancing, food and drinks! Tickets are on sale now for $100 per person or $150 per couple. We hope to see you there!
