KMS students head to state house to talk politics and change

Members of Generation Citizen have been studying civics

By Ted Hayes
Posted 5/23/19

They say all politics is local, and nearly 80 students at the Kickemuit Middle School took their issues to the Rhode Island state house last Monday for a civics lesson with lawmakers from across the …

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KMS students head to state house to talk politics and change

Members of Generation Citizen have been studying civics

Posted

They say all politics is local, and nearly 80 students at the Kickemuit Middle School took their issues to the Rhode Island state house last Monday for a civics lesson with lawmakers from across the Ocean State.

The students, all members of the school’s Generation Citizen program, have spent the school year researching topics of interest to them, learning about civic involvement and the political process and developing their own ideas for potential legislation. On Monday, they presented their ideas and several of them won group awards.

Kickemuit social studies teacher Jeff Grifka said Generation Citizen, now in its third year at the school, aims to get students thinking about the political process and how they can become involved in making positive change. Though they won't be able to vote for a few more years, the program "gives them motivation to get involved in Democracy as active citizens," he said.

To that end, students were encouraged this year to come up with ideas on effecting change in issues near and dear to them. Topics they chose included student behavior, the overall school environment, education funding — even the lack of air conditioning at KMS. Other topics included matters of wider interest, including plastic pollution and how to stop it, as well as whether the legal age to use "vaping" equipment should go from 18 to 21 (students supported that change).

At the state house last week, students presented their ideas to a panel of lawmakers and, competing against hundreds of other middle schoolers from across the state, brought home several awards including the "Change Maker Award" for the idea to ban plastic straws and other forms of plastic in Bristol and Warren.

The program is funded by grants and the Bristol Warren Education Foundation (BWEF). Mr. Grifka said the level of involvement and interest seen in the kids who have gone through the program in the past three years has been heartening and encouraging, and he said he's been happy to see it be well-received by students.

"We're very fortunate BWEF has funded it," he said. "It's been great for the kids; they've worked very hard."

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