TWAICB Director Sandy Sohcot reports:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015, I was proud to watch the students of the Future Leaders For Social Change Academy of Arroyo High School present their annual Town Hall about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Arroyo High School, in San Lorenzo, CA, has been involved in The World As It Could Be Program since 2007, first helping us pilot our curriculum, and then, in 2009 presenting their first Town Hall on the UDHR.
With guidance from Kay Zimmerman, their teacher, the students of her DPA (Developmental Psychology of Adolescents) class learned about the UDHR, then developed the theme of their Town Hall presentation. This year, the theme was “Know Yourself. Find Your Voice. Take A Stand.”
The students wrote poems related to this theme, and developed vignettes to dramatize different situations involving human rights issues. In each scene, they thoughtfully depicted a situation, then reflected on how to ultimately take a stand to help right the wrong illustrated. Following the presentation to approximately 300 students from the Future Leaders For Social Change Academy, the student took questions and comments from the audience. It was inspiring to hear the presenting students explain how they connected the UDHR to the personal stories depicted, and equally inspiring to hear audience members speak up about how great the presentation was and how important it was to hear the messages conveyed by the dramatizations.
