BOURNE — Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou, Middle School Principal Christine Borning and High School Principal Amy Cetner are pleased to announce that Bourne Public Schools hosted a discussion panel centered around the district’s Civics Action Project.
The discussion panel was held at Bourne High School on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The Civics Action Project is centered around physical, emotional, and social well-being. Eighth-grade Civics teachers Sharon Moore and Lisa DiBiasio, and 10th-grade History teacher Nora Center coordinated the event.
Panelists included State Rep. David Vieira, Barnstable Sheriff Donna Buckley, Alternative Peer Group and Positive Alternatives to School Suspension (PASS) representative Stephanie Briody, the founder of the ‘Kindness Rocks Project’ Megan Murphy, Bourne Substance Free Coalition member Beth Griffin, and Jeanne Morrison who represented a number of organizations including the League of Women Voters of Cape Code Area.
The group of panelists spoke to about 200 students from the eighth and 10th grades about their work, how to help people in their community, and how students can get involved. Topics included kindness and mindfulness, peer group programs, substance use disorders, affordable housing, and the importance of civic engagement. The panel served as a launch of this year’s Civics Action Project.
“I would like to thank our panelists for taking the time to speak with our students about how to make an impact locally within the community,” said Superintendent Quinlan-Zhou. “The Civics Action Project is a great way for students to connect with meaningful issues and engage with the world around them, and the panel discussion showed what that kind of work looks like in the real world. I hope our students were able to take away the importance of local individuals making a difference within their community and how everyday people with an idea can create a worldwide movement. I am excited to see our students’ projects and the hard work that will go into them in the spring.”
The Civics Action Projects are student-driven and students will present their work in the spring during the Civics Action Fair this spring. The projects are meant to provide students with a deeper understanding of engagement with their community and making their voices heard — as well as the importance of raising awareness about an issue that is important to them. The themes of the projects are implemented to assist students in refining their projects and gathering local resources.
During this introductory session, students were able to share ideas and ask questions to help decide what issues they are interested in researching further.
Superintendent Quinlan-Zhou would also like to acknowledge the hard work of the social studies teachers within Bourne Public Schools. Their commitment to excellence has helped make Bourne an “early adopter” of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Civics Action Projects.
“I want to thank our students and panelists for participating in this discussion centered around our Civics Action Project,” said Bourne High School Principal Cetner. “We covered a lot of topics and students were able to build a foundational knowledge of physical, emotional, and social wellbeing that they can now implement into their projects.”
“This was a very successful event and I am glad our students were able to speak with and learn from such a wonderful group of panelists who are doing incredible work in Bourne and on the Cape,” said Middle School Principal Borning.
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