Sleepy Hollow Students Learn How to Advocate for Their Community

In the Generation Citizen class at Sleepy Hollow Middle and High Schools, students in the eighth and twelfth grades delve into problems that face their community and are challenged to create a solution that is beneficial to all that are affected. The class helps students obtain their Seal of Civic Readiness, a formal recognition that a student has attained a high level of proficiency in terms of civic knowledge, civic skills, civic mindset, and civic experience.

During the class, the students as a group learn about everyday issues people face that affect their quality of life. They then, as a group, determine which one they would like to focus on. Students conduct research, speak to representatives of their community, create their policy goal, and work towards making a positive change.

The eighth graders decided to focus on safety and privacy of bathrooms, an issue they felt passionate about. The twelfth-grade students geared their efforts towards the cost of living, specifically affordable housing for the renters in their community.

The high school students decided they wanted to create their policy goal to focus on increasing guidelines. They wanted to ensure that 15-20% of available housing would be affordable housing in their community.

“When Westchester County Legislator Jewel Johnson came in, many of the students told their story. She provided a lot of insights on how to obtain information on things like applying to Section 8 and where to look when they need affordable housing,” said Jessica Hunsberger, Social Studies Department Chair at the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns. “It was very valuable at the end of the day because it was teaching them important life skills that they need to know when they go out into the world. It empowers them in having a voice in all of this.”

After months of hard work and dedication to their causes, two Sleepy Hollow twelfth and two eighth grade students were chosen by their peers to represent their respective classes on Generation Citizen’s Civics Day in early June.

“There were four rounds where the students presented their whole process. They used their own personal stories when presenting and they were passionate about it,” said Ms. Hunsberger. “They had a city council woman from Brooklyn who was the keynote speaker and there were other students who spoke about their projects. It was very inspirational.”

Although the class met for a short period of time, Ms. Hunsberger felt the students were able to obtain a lot from the course and get a lot accomplished in that timeframe.

“They learned about teamwork. They are understanding more about political parties and researching for voting. They are recognizing the complexities in issues,” said Ms. Hunsberger. “They had a chance to see how people in other municipalities are making changes in their own communities. They even heard mixed messages, which is an important part of the whole process.”