Student of the Week: Feb. 22

We've decided that it's important to give credit to students who have been active and engaged in our human rights discussions. For the first ever Student of the Week Award, we've chosen someone who has always shown interest in the topics and an understanding of the issues.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LYDIA WILSON who always comes to our lessons willing to participate and eager to listen. She shares personal reflections and tries to relate the discussions to her own life -- which not only shows that she's paying attention, but that she is also able to make the connection between our rights and our behavior. Lydia is also always helpful and focused, and completes her journal assignments thoughtfully. Because of this, we're sure Lydia can be a powerful defender of human rights and justice.


We've asked Lydia some questions about herself and about human rights:

• choose one word to describe yourself: UNIQUE
  
• what are some of your favorite subjects in school: MY FAVORITE SUBJECTS ARE SCIENCE AND LANGUAGE ARTS
• what song best describes you: THE SONG THE BEST DESCRIBES ME IS CINDERELLA BY FERGIE
• what do you consider yourself an expert in; what are you good at: I CONSIDER MYSELF A DANCE EXPERT...BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN DANCING SINCE I WAS TWO YEARS OLD.
• what do you want to be when you grow up: WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO OWN MY OWN DANCE COMPANY.
• who do you admire, why: I ADMIRE MY WHOLE FAMILY BECAUSE THEY DO WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
• what do human rights mean to you? why do you think it's important to protect peoples' rights: TO ME, HUMAN RIGHTS MEANS EVERYONE GETS EQUAL RIGHTS NO MATTER WHAT. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS BECAUSE IT ALLOWS [PEOPLE] TO HAVE FREEDOM.
• what human rights abuses are you most concerned about: PEOPLE BEING MURDERED AND NOT ABLE TO LIVE THEIR LIFE.

Thanks, Lydia, for being an exemplary student of human rights!

In the coming weeks, each of you will have the chance to be recognized as a student of the week as well. Not only will you get a cool certificate signed by Ms. Swetha and I, you'll also be entered for a prize at the end of the year!

How does someone become a student of the week? Participate in discussions, share your own ideas and opinions when possible without distracting others, do your journal assignments carefully and on time, and show concern and passion for human rights.

Still, we appreciate every one of you that comes to the lessons each time we're there for staying focused and enthusiastic. We have a GREAT TIME working with you, and hope you feel the same way.

Hunger Walk/Run 2010

This weekend was the 26th annual hunger walk/run in Downtown Atlanta. Such events raise money and awareness about fighting diseases, poverty, and in this case, hunger.


THOUSANDS of Georgians showed their support for organizations that lead the fight to end hunger in our communities. Listed below are the organizations that, because of the fundraiser, will be able to continue their commitments to feed our fellow Atlantans.

Atlanta Community Food Bank
Episcopal Charities Foundation
Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
Lutheran Services of Georgia
Presbyterian Answer to Hunger (PATH)
St. Vincent de Paul Foundation

We will learn more about hunger and poverty this week in our series of lessons on the Millennium Development Goals. Think about ways you can make a dent in hunger in your community and around the world.



photo by BOB ANDRES

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey guys, and welcome to 2010! We hope you're all enjoying the holidays -- we sure are. We'll be back to begin your human rights lessons again soon, but now would be a good time to think about what you can use your knowledge about human rights to guide your behavior and decisions... We hope that among your New Year's resolutions are commitments to be respectful and considerate of others' dignity and feelings. What are some of your New Year's resolutions? How can you improve your performance at school? How can you contribute more to your family and community? How can you promote human rights in your school, home and neighborhood??? Share your resolutions and ideas in the comments section, and we can discuss challenges with accomplishing them in class! Link of the week: Kids around the country share their resolutions (Nick News)

Human Rights in the School

This week we explored human rights at the local level. Former First Lady, and influential member of the UN Commission on Human Rights Eleanor Roosevelt reminded us that human rights start with us:

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."

These small places she refers to are the relationships we share among our fellow students, neighbors and co-workers. And human rights begin with the kindness and respect we show these people who make up our communities. In our experiment this week, we asked that some of you ignore your classmates and treat them like they didn't existed. You all had to accomplish a task, but those being ignored found it difficult to do so when they weren't even being acknowledged.

Consider a time when you felt ignored or disrespected. Isn't it difficult to work with someone who doesn't even treat you like you're human? Every day people are excluded because of who they are -- denied their rights because of their skin color, religion, political beliefs, gender or other attributes. So if we want to begin protecting human rights around the world, we must first start by promoting rights here in our communities. Smile at the new girl in class. Stop a friend when he's laughing at someone with a learning disability. By respecting the dignity of those around us, we are in fact fighting for human rights. How can we expect the world to change, if we aren't willing to change?

With that in mind, we asked you to create a list of rules necessary for guiding classroom discussions. What do you think we should keep in mind while sharing our opinions, and listening to those of others? Here is a condensed list of the ideas from all four classes:

1. Give full attention to whoever has the floor -- no side conversations, or talking over someone. Also, do not attempt to distract the speaker or your classmates.
   
2. Speak up/Step back: If you are used to letting everyone else talk, and don't usually share -- make an effort to participate. If you often share your opinions and ideas, give someone else a chance to talk, and listen to what others have to say.
3. Appreciate Diversity: respect others' opinions, don't make fun of their statements, and do not argue to change anyone's beliefs or ideas. The purpose of sharing is to understand different perspectives, not to determine whose is right or wrong/better or worse.
4. Stay Positive: bad attitudes not only affect you, they affect those around you -- smile, and let everyone know your mind is in the moment and not elsewhere.
   
5. NO VIOLENCE! Do not hit or in any way harm your classmates during lessons -- not even if you're just playing around. Things can escalate and get out of hand.
6. Be Respectful: Of other students, of us, and of your teachers. This involves following all of the above rules, and not doing anything to show disrespect of someone else.

How well do you believe you have followed these rules? What are some challenges of committing to these guidelines? The following video encourages you to turn your words into action. In every exchange you share with someone, we challenge you to think about these rules and how well you are adhering to them.