Sophomore Zoe Grant, Juniors Camille Hohl and Cameron Umpleby and seniors Clarissa Djohari, Hannah Kahn, Hannah Sullivan, Desmond Crosby, Jodi Shapiro, Mallory Gelman and Paul Corty are focusing on ending double standards for their project. Their table is decorated with posters of powerful phrases exposing different forms of slut shaming.
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”.
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.”
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...