Project Citizen Presentations 2023

In 4th grade Library and Enrichment specials are taught collaboratively during an 80 minute block each week. During that time the students learn about the different levels of decision making that happen in the world and how policy is created in Vermont and the United States. 

Through dialog and research each class comes to a consensus on a problem in the community they want to focus on to collectively research and are challenged to find one solution and propose a policy or sustainable solution to that problem to the appropriate decision makers. Throughout the year they have done primary and secondary research on their chosen topics, creating and distributing surveys, interviewing experts and investigating the topics through books, articles and other publications.

Each class' projects take on a life of their own. This year's problems they sought to solve were: 

• Ms. DesRoches' class couldn't settle on one so they chose to combine problems and tackle them together: lack of a community center in Richmond and global warming - they combined the two and pitched a environmentally built community center to a town select board committee. Click on the link to view their presentation.    

• Ms. LeFrancois' class was concerned with global warming and after research and interviews with Waste Management and our own cafe's Chef Danielle, they zeroed in on food waste at the school. They made videos and posters to educate the other students and staff about ways to lessen the food waste and wrote a mini grant to get a digital display from Displays2Go to show menu offerings so they can decide what they want before they get to the front of the line. Click on this link to view their presentation.     

• Ms. Senning's class chose to work on preventing animal abuse. They learned from interviewing a senior game warden and the co-directors of the Central Vermont Humane Society that much of the animal abuse that happens in our state is because animal owners did not know how to care for their animals or that they could surrender them if their life situation changed. They made PSAs both audio video and poster that will be shared via our class social media pages and with the Humane Society. Click on this link to view their work.

When the 4th Graders arrived at the beginning of the year and were greeted as "Fellow Learners and Citizens of the World," they immediately responded in chorus. "We are NOT citizens!" We are confident that they now not only know they are citizens with rights, they understand they have pathways to affect change.

 

The classes recently presented their work to each other, families and community members. Here is a link to the video if you would like to view it.