On June 9th, the Generation Citizen New England community came together for Civics Day to celebrate and honor the 12,000 students across the region engaging in an Actions Civics process around issues in their community they deeply care about.
This past school year, these students have been engaging in courageous conversations, learning and developing their civic skills, taking action and transforming our democracy, tackling issues of homelessness, drug abuse, community violence, and hunger, Generation Citizen students showed the true power of collective action and, as RI Representative David Morales stated, “how influential [their] voice can be when influencing a lawmakers decision.”
We were honored to have RI State Representative David Morales, RI Deputy Secretary of State Melissa Husband, Boston City Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia, MA State Representative Tram Nguyen, and US Senator Elizabeth Warren deliver words of encouragement, inspiration, and wisdom to our students and teachers, each sharing their perspectives on the importance of youth voice in civics.
Watch the whole ceremony below!
Student Changemaker Award
Each of our student projects were well-researched and presented, and we were thrilled to award Arouney Sithtaphone of Woonsocket High School and Kayleigh Mendrala our Student Changemaker Award for their leadership in their class projects on cultural sensitivity in early childhood education and mental health awareness and support, respectively.
Teacher Changemaker Award
We were equally excited to award Christopher Blanchette of Morton Middle School and Elizabeth Paolella of Hamlet Middle School our Teacher Changemaker Award, for their dedication and leadership this semester.
GC Values Award Winners
Grassroots Change Award Lowell High School, Ms. Lander, Stop and Prevent Anti-Asian Hate (Lowell, MA)
Systemic Impact Award Kickemuit Middle School, Mr. White, Solar Panels (Bristol-Warren, RI)
Collaboration & Diversity Award Charette High School, Ms. Miller, Homelessness (Providence, RI)
Action Award Morton Middle School, Mr. Blanchette, Plastic Bag Ban (Fall River, MA)
Open-Mindedness Award Marsh Grammar School, Ms. Zraket, Student Mental Health (Methuen, MA)
Best Overall Awards
Methuen High School, Mr. Cripps’s Class, Mental Health (Methuen, MA)
School One, Ms. Ullmann’s Class, Climate Change (Providence, RI)
Hamlet Middle School, Ms. Paolella’s Class, Drug Abuse (Woonsocket, RI)
Marshall Middle School, Mr. Maus’s Class, Lowering the Voting Age (Lynn, MA)
Our 100+ Community Advisors were instrumental in reviewing all of our entries and helping us decide on the winners of each award, and we thank all who volunteered their time.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
