As their capstone project, 8th grade students undertake a year-long community project, during which they identify an issue that is important to them and then develop and execute an action project that will make a difference. This year’s projects included:
- Working to help pass legislation that would reduce voter suppression
- Collecting and then donating sports equipment to kids who need it
- Helping schools to participate in drives to help organizations that help with food insecurity
- Helping people understand and implement cybersecurity
- Creating and donating card packs that can be sold to benefit HomeFront
Gordon: My Wide Angle Project focused on fighting voter suppression. After deciding on this topic, I attended a Princeton Community Democrats Organization (PCDO) meeting where I spoke with the assemblyman from my legislative district about voter suppression and a pending a bill that would restore voting rights to those who are formerly incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. Afterwards, I developed a flyer which PCDO used at their booth at Communiversity this year.
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Amna: The goal of my project was to address the problem of hunger and get as many NJ schools as I could to learn about why this is important and why we should help the community. I was able to contact three schools in my area, Franklin High School, Franklin Park School, and Claremont Elementary and will continue to work with these schools over the summer. You can learn more at the website I designed to support this project.
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Gerard: The goal of my project was to educate and raise awareness about cyber security. I did this by visiting a variety of places where I could educate and raise awareness about cyber security, including the Upper El classroom, my local library, and my Civil Air Patrol squadron. Throughout this project, I developed many valuable skills. The most important was becoming more comfortable talking to people I didn’t know and teaching others. I was able to grow and understand my strengths and identify the things I need to work on.
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Community projects are student-centered and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. They help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile, provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate “approaches to learning” (ATL) skills developed through the IB Middle Years Program, and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.
