Deegan’s Human Rights Students Make a Difference With CTP Projects
Students in the BHS Human Rights and Conflict class complete their semester with Choosing to Participate (CTP) projects dedicated to bringing positive social change.
During the week of January 4th, students displayed their projects at tables outside the cafeteria. These displays included trifolds, videos and “pledge walls” where students signed pieces of paper and added their names to a wall to show support or take a stand against issues in our community.
The goal of the project is to become an “upstander,” one who stands up for the rights of others in order to bring about positive social change.
According to social studies teacher Greg Deegan, who teaches the course, these projects are a great way to wrap up the semester elective.
“Students learn first hand that when they come together and take action, they can make a positive change,” he said
The class focuses on how the choices people make in their daily lives can shape history.
The CTP projects have been a part of Deegan’s class for twelve years, and they have a history of success making positive change in the Beachwood community and beyond. For example, the BHS Gay Straight Alliance Club (GSA) was started as a CTP project in 2009.
Additionally, BHS human rights students supplied a local women’s shelter, the Edna House, with food from 2006 through 2010.
These projects have even helped people across the world. From 2006 to 2008, a group of students raised $5,000 for refugees fleeing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Deegan is excited about the passion this semester’s students bring to their projects.
“This year’s ideas have been fantastic,” he said. “Original, powerful and successful.”
From collecting more than 50 winter coats for people in need, to publishing a children’s book about tolerance, to creating a “Wall of Heroes,” to encouraging students to pledge not to text and drive, Deegan believes that the projects this year are “really amazing.”
Post emphasized how crucial winter items are.
“Just to have anything, new or old, big or small is appreciated by the kids,” she said. “Just knowing I can make a difference and help kids in need is super exciting and motivating.”
The group is donating the coats and other winter items to an organization run out of Akron Children’s Hospital, where children can pick out anything they need.
Hohl believes that spreading awareness about slut shaming is the first step to making BHS a healthier environment for all students.
“I have a lot of friends who have experienced slut shaming, and I know that it is very prevalent throughout the school,” she said. “Hopefully we bring awareness to what double standards are and eliminate some of the negative words used towards girls.”
Behind their table, there is a wall where students can pledge not to use words such as “slut,” “whore” and “thot”.
Behind their table is a pledge wall where students and teachers are pledging not to text, drink or drive distracted in any other way.
Levine feels that distracted driving is an important issue to bring attention to.
“With open campus and many students driving to school, we want to make sure everyone in the community is safe,” she said.
Senior Tess Kazdin believes that raising awareness about mental illness will create a more positive environment within BHS for students who do have mental illness.
“The stigma around mental illness often comes from ignorance,” she said. “We just want students who do suffer from mental health disorders to know that they’re not alone.”
There is a list of phrases behind the table that students can pledge not to say.
On the poster, seniors displayed their heroes and encouraged all students to think about whom they look up to as a role model.
Halpert is excited that the heroes of the class of 2016 will hang permanently.
“We hope that the board will make the high school a more positive environment,” he said. “It is cool that people can walk by in 20 years and see the hero they wrote.”
With the dropping temperature, Post emphasized how crucial winter items are for families in need.
“Just to have anything, new or old, big or small is appreciated by the kids,” she said. “Just knowing I can make a difference and help kids in need is super exciting and motivating.”
The group is donating the coats and other winter items to an organization run out of Akron Children’s Hospital, where children can pick out anything they need.
On their table, they have nametags for people to fill in the blanks: I am not _________, I am _________. According to Alter, these nametags are aimed at stopping negative stereotypes.
“The purpose is to educate people on language, how to use it and how not to use it,” she said. “Hopefully people will stop using derogatory words in their daily vocabulary.”
The group hopes that when students see the name tags around the school, they will learn to recognize their peers based on their interests and personality traits rather than stereotypes.
The authors plan on reading the book in classrooms and sharing it with libraries in Orange and Chagrin Falls.
Cantlie feels it is important to teach important lessons to children at a young age.
“The goal of our project is to teach tolerance to young children,” she said.
“Hopefully, this will promote better choices that will shape our future society in a positive way.”
Photos by Sydney Eisenberg
Sydney Eisenberg is a senior, and although she just started writing for the Beachcomber this year, she is excited to be a part of the newspaper. She is...
