Ghana Session: Civic Leaders of America Project introduced through the flooding in Ghana

ASBURY PARK: CIVIC LEADERS OF AMERICA

This year Mr. David Wronko’s Asbury Park High School students are working on a Civic Leaders of America Project which will evolve from the local, state, and national level. Below is the project that they are currently working on.

Social Studies Standard 6.1 U.S. History: America in the World: All students will acquire the knowledge and skills to think analytically about how past and present interactions of people, cultures, and the environment shape the American heritage. Such knowledge and skills enable students to make informed decisions that reflect fundamental rights and core democratic values as productive citizens in local, national, and global communities.

Objective: Students will be involved in improving life in their community in regards to the environment (houses damaged by storms, flooding, recycling, remote learning problems) homelessness, gun control and crime, and covid 19 (how to encourage others to get vaccinated, helping people and their mental health).

Project: Students will be placed into separate committees:

1. Environment
2. Homelessness
3. Gun Control and Crime
4. Covid 19

Stage One: When students are placed into their committees, they must conduct research regarding their subject in how it relates to Asbury Park. Students will research problems pertaining to their topic that may exist in their community. Once the problems are identified students will create an action plan to help the community improve in that following area. The action plan will be based on the local level and will include the following:

1. Creating a solution to the problem.
2. Writing letters to local politicians such as the mayor and state representatives to the district. Also, students will be encouraged to make phone calls to their local officials. In addition, students will be encouraged to invite public speakers to a zoom conference or in person discussion.
3. Informing the community regarding the problem and how it can be corrected. This could be done through creating a film, flyers based on an idea or project, and presentations.

3a. Creation of a project: Materials

3b. Who is funding your project and why?

3c. How will your project benefit the community and why?

Stage Two: Once students have taken action on the local level and their idea appeared to be successful, then they will take it to the state level and propose a bill so that the entire state could benefit from their process. Creating a bill will require the following:

1. Begin with the Preamble.
2. Write the Body of the Bill.
3. Finish with an Enactment Clause.

Once the bill is finished, students will then write to their state senators to see if their bill will be presented and passed in the state senate.

Stage Three: Students will present their idea on an international level through the use of video conferencing with Ghana and other participating countries.

Stage Four (Federal level): Students will write to Senator Booker and Senator Menendez and explain to them what they are trying to do with their community and the state in regards to their topic. Then they will ask if they can be represented in congress through the creation of their proposed bill.

Civic Leaders of America

At the end of the project students will identify what kind of citizen they were in this process. They will also use their experience and apply it to reviewing the following:

1. Three Branches of Government: Legislative, Executive, Judicial, branch
2. The United States Constitution
3. Bill of Rights

Just recently, Ghana experienced severe flooding. From hospitals, to roads, to villages, there was water everywhere. Because of this, the Solid Rock Foundation School in Ghana had to cancel last week’s Ghana session. However, this week the sessions resumed and this gave Mr. Wronko’s student, Kevin Ogden, a great opportunity to launch his Civic Project by sharing what could be done with flood waters. He demonstrated in his drawing that areas that were prone to flooding could be dealt with if multiple drainage areas are throughout the community. From there, once the water goes into the drainage areas, the water would be directed into area in which a super heating generator system would be in place. The heating system would be over 100 degrees Celsius. The game plan would be to have the water evaporate and leave the area. Andrew Boateng and students in Ghana thanked Kevin for his idea and hopefully this idea could be implemented in the near future.

Images were shared from Solid Rock Foundation’s school technical director, Andrew Boateng.