My job was just to nudge them in the right direction and say, if you want to change something, do it! You are all more than capable of making a huge impact.
When I came to Brown, I was looking for an opportunity to teach at a high school level, and Generation Citizen jumped out at me right away. It is a teaching experience that is motivated by a desire to empower the youth in our community. When I teach, I am not just giving lessons on civics; with the mission of Generation Citizen, I am teaching my students how to be active, constructive members of their society. Someone described the mission of Generation Citizen to me like this: if students do science experiments to learn science, why shouldn’t they learn civics by taking an active role in their political communities? I am able to teach students to utilize the governmental systems that are set in place for them with which to make change, rather than merely learn about them. The age group Generation Citizen targets is just right for the lessons imparted. I taught ninth grade, and my students were naturally full of ideas of things they wanted to change about their communities.
My job was just to nudge them in the right direction and say, if you want to change something, do it! You are all more than capable of making a huge impact.
It is great to play the role of giving students the tools they need to succeed in reaching their goals. And with the open, discussion-based curriculum of Generation Citizen, the lessons went beyond topical civic topics. At times, class discussion turned to various subjects including economics, personal freedom in a lawless society, what technological advances mean for freedom, and effective public speaking. The students were also eager to discuss a wide range of current events, from Sharron Angle’s infamous comment, to southern boarder immigration, to Lady Gaga, and the right of gay marriage. Many of the issues we discussed had no one answer, but the classes were effective in getting the cogs turning in their young minds about what is right, what is a right, and where they stand on issues of morality and government. The first time I asked for free response word associations on the word government, the students’ first responses included greed, money, and liars. As graduates of Generation Citizen, they should have a much more advanced knowledge of what government means.
I look forward to seeing Generation Citizen’s influence grow and nurture the raw, politically charged energy of the high school student. Each one is a beam of potential, and it has been amazing to be a small part of the mission to unlock that across the country.