School is not just teaching students about science, math, English, social studies … it’s also about teaching the youth attending our schools to be better citizens. To help with this, West Seneca West and East High Schools offer a Participation in Government (“PIG”) class all seniors need to take in order to graduate.
“The idea of the course is civics, to teach them what it means to be a good citizen,” explained Nadine Ocasio, PIG teacher at East Senior. “Part of that is having the students identify something they see in the community as a need, research it and decide what they want to do about it.”
The two high schools offer students the same principles regarding being a good citizen, but they are taught in different manners. At West Seneca East, the PIG students will take their identified need and turn it into a project they work on throughout the semester. They research their topic, get involved with people in the community and try to make a change. They also are required to perform a minimum of 10 hours of service.
“To understand civics I can stand there and lecture, but it’s much better for them to learn it by doing it and understanding that it can be easy,” Ocasio said.
Some of the students helped collect items for animal shelters or the homeless. Other projects included cooking well-balanced meals for Compass House, holding a districted driving simulation, and teaching children about obesity and healthy living.
“What they don’t realize is they’re engaging themselves in the community,” Ocasio added. “Part of the project is self-realization. They become mentors. They’re making a change.”
Other students make the project personal. They choose a topic relating to issues they face in their life and become advocates.
“When kids pick projects that are personal, when they stand up there and reveal some of their personal stories, I cry,” Ocasio shared. “These kids learn that being active and doing things in an area they truly like can be easy, and it can be fun. Generally they get a lot out of it, and there’s a real sense of pride for me because I’ve watched their growth.”
Throughout the semester, many students fear they’ll fail. Some students are concerned they won’t receive many donations, others complain “people don’t care.” When this occurs, Ocasio reminds the students, “The point of the class is to change their minds and to tell them why they should care, why they should do things. If we want to see change, we have to help.”
At the end of the semester, the East students present their project to a panel of three to five people who work in the district and aren’t affiliated with the projects. It is this panel who grades the projects.
But at the end of the day, the project is not about a grade. It is about making the students aware of how they can make an impact on the world they live in. As Ocasio puts it, “They’re making connections in the community, and that really is what it’s about.”
