Innovation Grant Spotlight: 10th Grade Social Justice "Isms" Exploration

MHS 10th Grade English Teachers Awarded a Year-Long Innovation Grant from the Melrose Education Foundation: Amy Mirasolo, Arielle Gillette, Matthew Manfredi, Robin Loewald, Jennifer Natusch

Sexism. Racism. Ableism. Heavy topics that require deep and intentional learning experiences in our schools. And as part of a project spearheaded by Melrose High School’s 10th grade English teachers, students are participating in just that -- exploring ‘isms’ -- those above, as well as other prejudices and discrimination based on religion, class, and age. 

The year-long realignment of the curriculum around in-depth, student-driven research and analysis of a social justice issue was funded by an Innovation Grant from the Melrose Education Foundation, and is the vision of MHS English teachers Arielle Gillette, Amy Mirasolo, Jennifer Natusch, Robin Loewald, and Matthew Manfredi. This larger Innovation Grant builds on a previous Boost Grant that supported greater diversity in literature circle book choice for students. In addition to reading literature that features social justice issues, students are researching a chosen social justice issue, with a year long culminating product such as a research paper, a letter to elected officials expressing concerns, an editorial opinion article, and a community awareness raising project. 

The result is a full year experience integrating language arts skills with authentic opportunities to engage as a community with issues of social justice and equity. Students will develop skills and knowledge to fully research, analyze, and engage in critical discussion about a contemporary equity issue. 

As part of this project, on Friday, January 29, over 200 MHS sophomores and teachers logged in to a virtual day long event featuring speakers (funded by the grant) who shared their own lived experiences with these ‘isms’. The speakers included Steve Harrington of nAGLY (North Shore Alliance for GLBTQ+ Youth), who talked about his own experiences as a gay man; Sonya Rao, who spoke about her experiences with sexism in a job as an EMT and in her career as a lawyer; Stephan Koenigsberger, who spoke about his experiences with ‘able-ism’ as a young PhD candidate with autism and ADHD; and Rhea Elcock, who spoke about racism as a young woman earning her Masters in STEM Education.

Students were highly engaged, asking questions and making comments and connections via the chat during the discussions. The level of empathy and understanding they exhibited was incredible. They left with high praise for the immersive experience. 

“I was pleasantly surprised by some of the student’s comments in the chat, and it wasn’t just the kids you’d expect - the ones who always participate or those who are directly impacted,” said one sophomore. 

Another said the forum was a “great outlet for the speakers to educate the sophomore class about discriminations some may not know, or know very little about, And it was a great opportunity for students who have been discriminated against to convey their feelings and ask questions.” 

One LGBTQ student reported that they found it very powerful to hear about the experiences of a gay man and the challenges he faced growing up in the 60s and 70s. 

Parents also provided feedback. One stated that she was “able to hear some of the sessions, and was really impressed by the speakers. Hearing someone talk about their struggle to get extra time on tests in college, for example, made an issue like ableism more accessible.” Another reported that her student told the family about the ableism discussion over dinner. “He felt it was important to make people aware of another category many people don't think about. And I really appreciated that this led to him explaining ableism to his 7th grade sister as well!”

Finally, one student summed the experience up well, saying “the conversations in the chat were so important and opened up the space for future discussions on the four topics brought up. I think the school should take note of this and bring up topics like racism and ableism more often in the curriculum because there were so many things we didn’t have time to touch on. I think it was a really great start to bigger conversations.” 

Watch for more about this Innovation Grant funded project at the end of the school year when students share their final presentations.