DANVERS — Jean Charles Academy held its second annual World Fair at the Doubletree Hotel in Danvers at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
As part of the event, staff and family members gathered to watch seventh and eighth grade students debate whether guns should be legal in the United States.
Mass shootings have been on the rise in the U.S., with 260 shootings in 2023 alone.
“I am so proud of them for wanting to even have the conversation that so many adults don’t want to have,” event organizer and school founder Nakia Navarro said. “That shows bravery. It gives me hope.”
Five students argued that guns should be legal, and four students argued that guns should not be legal. According to Navarro, eighth grade student Sierra Velazquez proposed the debate topic.
Velazquez said that the idea began as a homework project after seeing the Walmart mass shooting in Virginia on Nov. 22 online.
“Gun education in general would be really beneficial,” Velazquez said. “If people were just educated on how to use them, what to do with them, then it’ll be a whole lot less dangerous.”
Navarro fully supported her students’ decision to tackle the problem of gun control. She said she recognizes the relevance of the topic, especially since Jean Charles Academy recently had a lockdown, and students, staff, and parents frequently see shootings headline the news.
At the fair, booths featured projects created by students of each grade level. According to Navarro, the projects highlighted the students’ studies throughout the year.
First and second grade students created a carnival scenario based on equity, third and fourth grade students coded video games that taught users how to take better care of the environment, and fifth and sixth grade students created 3D displays of their ideal country with its own currency and constitution. Kindergarteners performed a song to celebrate equality and togetherness.
Parent volunteer Maria Fernanda Cantón was heavily involved in helping Navarro set up this year’s World Fair. After attending last year’s inaugural World Fair, Cantón said she was so impressed by the students’ involvement with social issues that she enrolled her son at Jean Charles Academy.
“The event is pretty meaningful in a lot of ways,” Cantón said. “I think it really helps the kids develop a sense of social consciousness.”
