On Thursday, May 30, a group of sixth and seventh grade students attended Middle School Civic Spirit Day, at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan. After a welcoming address from leaders of the organization, Civic Spirit, New York Councilwoman and former Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer spoke to the students about the importance of being involved in their communities. She shared success stories of students who initiated change in her community.

Yavneh students, led by Mrs. Brittany Ricklis, had the opportunity to interact and learn with students from different parts of New York, Connecticut and other parts of New Jersey. All of the attendees rotated through station activities that focused on the theme of the day, “Civic Communication.” At each station, the students analyzed different primary sources—photographs, written documents and nonfiction news graphics. After learning about how each one demonstrated a different type of civic communication, the students shared their reflections and comments.

At the next session, the students met in smaller groups to work on building dialogue skills. At lunchtime, the students became more acquainted with each other while playing Human Bingo. As a culminating activity, the students were divided into groups based on topics of interest, and they created advertisement campaigns about their topic which incorporated the elements of civic communication learned earlier in the day. The topics included protecting the environment, combating homelessness and disability rights.

The Yavneh students enjoyed learning about different ways their voices could impact the world. Thank you Mrs. Ricklis for this important experience.