By Mark Reynolds
For the second year, Highland High School students in Christina Saylor’s Civic Readiness Class showcased their work last week in the cafeteria at the High School.
Saylor guides and supports projects that her students develop in class.
“When they identify a problem or an asset, they have to think about what level they want to work on. It could be a town, school or county problem or asset but a lot were oriented at the school,” Saylor said, adding that students will receive a Seal of Civic Readiness distinction on their diplomas at graduation.
“I just think it’s so important that kids realize and have faith in themselves to do really big things and I think that the theme this year was for kids to surprise themselves in what they were capable of,” he said.
Ava LaValle focused on ‘Burnout in Healthcare’ that she attributes to, “too many hours, how covid really affected everyone’s work ethic and there is not enough staffing and supplies.” She hosted an event with her cheer team and raised $250 that will go to ‘Don’t Clock Out, a non-profit mental health organization that supports healthcare workers.
Erin Smith has chosen to produce a Community Art Night that is scheduled for April 25 from 3pm to 8pm at the Bad Seed Taproom, 43 Bailey’s Gap Road in Highland. She said her project was a response to cuts that were made in arts programs.
“That really showed me that the school didn’t put arts on the same level as it does with other subjects or sports, along with the discouragement of guidance counselors not to pursue an art career, is what made me chose this project,” she explained. “I think art night helps to bring together Highland’s artists and our student artists here at the school.”
Sianni Caicedo and Gunner Trombetta jointly developed a ‘Philosophy of Geography’ project. Sianni said, “We wanted to teach kids about cultures around us and languages as well,” with Gunner adding that they reached out to the 1st, 3rd and 5th graders because their goal is to teach the kids where countries are located and also about the tribes around the world during Women’s History Month.
Kelcey Whalen and Sam Calahan brought attention to the mental health of student athletes by hosting a fundraiser at a recent Volleyball and a Lacrosse game that raised more than $2,000 for Morgan’s Message, a Virginia-based organization dedicated to building communities by and for athletes and to provide a platform for advocacy.
Morgan, who played Lacrosse at Duke University, suffered a bad knee injury her sophomore year that took a toll on her mental health to such a degree that she committed suicide at the age of 22.
Alexis Violaris ran a used clothing drive to prevent them from being thrown into landfills. After setting out a collection box at the High School, she sorted the clothes by size and gender and brought them back to school where, “anyone could come and take anything they wanted.” She said this removed the stigma of ‘thrifting,’ and turned a negative into a positive,
Gabriella Barbaro said her film project, ‘Reframing Minds,’ is her way of presenting mental health issues in a new and different light.
“I worked to create my own film called “The Thread” using students and teachers from school to show a realistic representation of mental health issues,” she said.
Gabriella not only wrote the script for her film, but directed and filmed it and composed the musical soundtrack. She will release the film in May, which coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month.
Emelia Halbijohn and Kelly Flores were both born in the United Sates and chose to highlight their mutual Hispanic Heritage; Emelia’s father is Jamaican, her mother is of Mexican heritage and Kelly’s parents are from El Salvador.
“Data shows that 37% of high school students feel that they don’t belong because of their background and their culture,” she said. “We focused on belonging because everyone should feel like they are included in school.” To that end Emelia and Kelly planned a field trip to Guac Toco in New Paltz, ran a school assembly entitled ‘Viva La Cultura’ with Hispanic games, Hispanic music, dancing, candies and goodies. They also planned a Hispanic breakfast.”
Kai Roper focused on ‘Decolonization of Knowledge’ which aims to elevate other perspectives of history rather than a Euro-centric one. She said that in school students are taught America’s ideals of freedom and democracy and our break from British rule but for people who were brought here as slaves and the indigenous peoples who were pushed off their land, “those ideals were not so readily available to them.”
Kai said for her project she read four books – ‘A Queer History of the United States’ by Michael L. Bronshi, ‘An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States,’ by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, ‘An African American and Latinx History of the United States’ by Paul Ortiz and ‘Who Cooked the Last Supper; The Women’s History of the World’ by Rosalind Miles- and compiled a resource guide for the AP United States History course breaking it down by unit and time period for the students to study. She is planning to major in history at Bard College and hopes to become a college history professor.
Dylan Zocchi, Noah Cabrera and Cadence Meltz worked on a project called ‘Paws for a Cause’. Cadence said it was important to them, “that the animals in a local shelter in Kingston had the correct supplies and received the care that they needed.” They held a donation drive at the high school where people could bring their pets, do a two mile walk and then donate to the cause. The three students all have pets and saw that bringing food and treats to the shelter was needed.
Lloyd Supervisor Dave Plavchak said, “the students are very articulate, they all showed what they wanted to do and how it the benefits the community,” saying the town would help in any way they can to support the program.
Town Board member Tiffany Rizzo said this class boosts student confidence, especially in public speaking.
“I’m impressed and proud of all of them; they did a great job,” she said.
High School Principal Brandon Opitz said, “It’s nice to see the kids going out into the school and community and finding some problem out there, addressing it and bringing a positive light to it. Our goal is to prepare them for when they leave here, so it’s good to see them doing it when they are here.”
Asst. High School Principal Colleen Muller said the Civic Readiness class, “teaches them a lot about being human, about problem solving, time management and how to do these things. They plan their projects from beginning to end.”