LYNNFIELD — Sophomores at Lynnfield High School presented their Civics Action projects to community members, who were welcomed into the gymnasium to learn about how students are making a change.
The projects ranged from integrating epinephrine nasal sprays into Lynnfield schools, organizing clothing exchanges to combat fast fashion, and a cultural diversity club.
Students, parents, and interested townsfolk streamed through the gym Wednesday, visiting each group’s station where adorned trifold posters exhibited everything that went into the undertaking.
Project partners Isabelle Ruocco, Lee Malone, and Mel O’Boyle focussed on cultural diversity at the high school and in Lynnfield as a whole for their Civics Action.
A key component of the Civics Action research process is sending out a survey related to the group’s chosen topic.
This is how Ruocco, Malone, and O’Boyle found out there are 28 ethnicities at the high school, over half of the students are unsure if they feel or do not feel as if their ethnicity is represented at the school, and about 18% of students feel they’ve been teased about their ethnicity.
Using their research, the group then formulated a plan for enacting a change, something like a cultural diversity club.
“Ideally, it would mostly get into motion next year; it’d meet like four or five weeks at both the middle and high school,” Malone said. “We’d have guest speakers who talk about their first-hand experiences with different cultures, so we can learn from a firsthand source, and we can share with each other.”
Another group of students, Allison Sweeney, Jared Burke, Justin Flores, Dante Bucci, and Juliette Vaccaro, advocated for the implementation of neffy epinephrine nasal spray into Lynnfield schools.
After being introduced to the device by high school nurse Risa Ferrara and learning about how much cheaper and easier using a Neffy is compared to EpiPens, the students chose to use their Civics Action project to raise awareness about the benefits of Neffy.
“If you’re a teacher and a kid is having an allergic reaction, you have to hold their hand harder to put it (an EpiPen) in,” Flores said. “With this, you can just put it in their nose.”
Many school officials were in the gym Wednesday perusing the student presentations, including Superintendent Tom Geary, Assistant Superintendent Adam Federico, and high school Principal Patricia Puglisi.
“I’m just so impressed with the kids and their presentations. These are really important because, number one, it’s a chance to publicly present. Anytime our kids get to work with members of the community and present their thinking, that’s like the most meaningful learning,” Federico said. “It also connects what they do in the class learning to the community outside the building. That just makes all the difference in terms of achievement and understanding.”
According to Puglisi, the process of getting out into the community and learning about the different avenues to take for change has been important for the social studies department since Civics became a requirement in 2018.
“We see kids promoting it; this is what they care about, and I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to see what’s going on with them,” she said. “This type of learning really is reflective of the Vision of the Graduate, with collaboration, problem-solving, resilience.”
A Healthy Lynnfield is one example of a local organization that students have turned to for information and resources, like Hayden Valiton, Callie Donovan, Chloe McEwen, and Nadiale Rude, who got drunk simulation goggles from A Healthy Lynnfield to educate visitors about impaired driving.
In addition, each poster featured a QR code that, when scanned, would go to a website created by students where those interested can learn more about their project.
For Emma Greenleaf, Gabriella D’Ambrosio, Siyeon Park, Jada Moga, and Calla Norden’s project on fast fashion’s impact on the environment, they included three QR codes on their decorative trifold.
Two go to the websites of the stores that inspired them, the Magic Hat Thrift Shop in Marblehead and Worthy Girl in Beverly, and the other leads to the group’s Instagram page, which will follow their progress as they set up a second-hand pop-up at the high school.
“This is what they think about, and they’re worried about, and they are passionate about on a day to day basis,” Geary said. “They’re passionate and interested, and they’re willing to do the work to make a change.”
