Every eighth grader at Lagunitas Community School completes a Change Project, a year-long endeavor in which they identify a problem and create a plan to implement a quantifiable change. Students quickly discover that making change is hard. Sometimes even identifying a problem can be a challenge.
It’s not that our students don’t see the issues in their community, it’s just that sometimes those issues can feel gigantic and overwhelming.
To make their projects successful, students need community support. They must reach out to local organizations and develop relationships with experts in the field in which they are interested. Learning how to ask a stranger to help you accomplish something is a valuable life skill. Students must write formal emails, make telephone calls and conduct interviews; they have to be on time for meetings and, most importantly, be able to communicate their interest in their issue with clarity. These skills prepare students for the workplace and future projects they will take on.
Another important element of making change is raising awareness, so our students deliver a TED-style talk at the end of the year. The community is welcome and each student outlines the work they have done, the change they made and how people can get involved.
Students also write short articles for the Point Reyes Light about their efforts. Local newspapers are vital for the health of communities, and I want my students to build a relationship with our paper and learn how to communicate their ideas in a journalistic format. As they study American history and democracy, participating in the free press gives them another real-life experience.
Our eighth graders are coming of age at a challenging time. It is easy for them to feel powerless, and they make their worlds small by counting likes and follows, something they can control, an easy validation. The Change Project gives them the tools to tackle real problems and helps them learn to use those likes and follows as a force for good. It is important for adults to listen and support young people in this process. When we believe in them, they can accomplish anything.
Clean water and soccer balls
By Griffin Yakich, Dyami Mason,
Thatcher Barry and Cahir Brennan
Growing up, we have all always loved to play soccer. We would play on the blacktop at school. One thing we hadn’t really thought about is how lucky we are to always have access to a good soccer ball and a field with goals at each end.
Clean drinking water is also something we take for granted, but it is an essential resource that is often in small quantities. It is so scarce in developing countries in Africa and South America that many kids never even make it to the young age of 5. Charity Ball teamed up with Vox to provide clean sustainable clean drinking water to these kids. A $70 donation provides a kid with a soccer ball and sustainable clean drinking water.
Our goal for this project is to try to create a similar opportunity for soccer players around the world. Our planet contains roughly 7.9 billion people and about 2 billion of those are without clean drinking water. In Africa alone, there are 387 million people without easy access to clean water.
This issue matters to us because all of us have played soccer our whole lives and love the game. We can’t imagine not having access to clean water, or not being able to play soccer because we’re dehydrated or don’t have access to a ball. Soccer is an amazing sport because of the low amount of resources you need to play it. Charity Ball helps get soccer balls to children around the world who want the opportunity to play the beautiful game.
Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide, played by over 3.5 billion people. Many people, especially in developing countries, use balls made out of trash, string and other materials and will never know the feel of a real ball. One thing we can all agree on is how we never realized how privileged we are to always have a soccer ball—and you never realize how lucky we are to have easy access to clean drinking water.
As part of our Change Project, we would like to support Charity Ball by hosting a fun run. This will be organized on March 2 at 10 a.m. and will have an entry fee of $15. All donations will go to Charity Ball. By doing this fun run, or just showing up and supporting, you will be helping people all over the world.
The Simama Project
By Ben and Blake Baxley
Many kids living in Marin fail to understand the privilege they’ve been gifted with. Some take necessities such as clean water, food, clothes and even education for granted. This is seldom to exist in places around the world, such as Kenya, where a sufficient amount of food, water and schooling doesn’t come as a given. Many kids work from young ages, begging or hustling only to receive no more than some spare change. This stark contrast overshadows the global disparities that many kids go through, making it clear that bringing awareness to this issue is something that needs to happen in many socio-economic environments. According to School on Wheels, there’s an average of about 2.5 million homeless children in the U.S. compared to Kenya’s 300,000. While this may not seem like a lot, Kenya is approximately 17 times smaller than the U.S.
Our names are Benjamin and Blake Baxley. Our uncle, Mathew Orcutt, started a nonprofit called the Simama Project. He was inspired after meeting a young boy named Alfred. Alfred had a love for school, but with a disabled father and no contact with his mother, he had to spend his days begging for money. Matt took a chance on him and agreed to send him to school, and made him promise to focus and try his best. After a few months, Alfred was top of his class, doing better than Matt ever thought possible. Alfred told him there were other kids on the street smarter than him who also wanted to go to school. While our uncle didn’t know if he could afford it, he agreed to pay for three more. And guess what? After a few more months, the other boys had also become top of their classes. While Matt wanted to keep helping, he didn’t have enough money. He decided to move to Kenya and start the Simama Project. “I started the Simama Project because I realized the kids that I helped had more potential than I did.”
The project believes that while things such as a proper education are important, kids also need a safe living environment and life skills. The work they do is amazing. They find and rescue kids who have been abandoned, mistreated or separated from their families, and find their family or relatives who could take them in. If no such opportunities arise, the kids are taken to a home where they are happily welcomed to the Simama family. For kids who desire an education but cannot afford, the project takes applications and reviews grades, situations and backgrounds. In all 13 years of operation, the Simama project has put about 443 kids in school.
For our Change Project, we are working to create a lasting relationship between the Lagunitas School community and the Simama community. One way we are accomplishing this is by working with the founder of the project to set up pen pals with our seventh-grade students. This will allow them to share experiences and connect with kids with a different experience. We are also supporting the project by donating money. We have been working on this task throughout our years of middle school. We used a school dance as a fundraiser for Simama, and gave a community-wide explanation on this very issue in seventh grade with our Monument Project. We are incredibly inspired by our uncle and his organization’s actions and are working to reflect the impact he has made on us through our Change Project.
Dealing with grief
By Leona Caldarelli-Leon
It is estimated that 6 million children in the U.S. will experience the loss of a parent or sibling by age 18 and even more will lose other family members and friends. Grief is the one thing that human beings throughout time have in common—we all will lose someone we love and experience periods of enormous grief.
When I was 9 years old, in third grade, someone who was a huge part of my life passed away. At the time I didn’t understand that I was never going to see them again and I didn’t know how to react. When it started to sink in, I completely shut out all my emotions regarding their death and never wanted to talk about it. I thought that talking about it made me weak and I was embarrassed to be vulnerable around other people.
Around two years after the death, the emotion I had shut out began to come back in waves. I would get overwhelmed by sudden hits of anger, sadness and regret but refuse to let myself cry. Still, years later, I have trouble talking about their death even to the people I trust most. If I was taught that it was okay to communicate how I was feeling and that it was okay to cry, it would have helped me in the long run. Very few people understand how to manage grief and when a young person is put in that situation, it can be even harder to handle.
Grief is a completely natural experience, but when it’s happening it feels anything but natural. Teens will often reject their emotions, afraid that if they confront their feelings, they might be overwhelmed by the pain of losing a loved one. According to Vitas Healthcare, 20 percent of teens will lose a loved one. It is important to help teens accept their reality rather than shut it out, which can allow them to begin their grieving process.
Often teens blame themselves after the death of a loved one, and end up believing they could have prevented the death. According to the Dougy Center, it is usually better not to argue with them and instead listen and allow them to think about how they feel about the death, which will reduce some of the self-blame.
After a death, teens may experience trouble with academics. This is because it is hard to focus on anything else. They feel strained and tired trying to understand everything surrounding the death, leaving them with little room to worry about school, studying and work. In other cases, a teen might fill up their schedule and become more productive to distract themselves from their feelings.
In most cases, teens are not in need of professional help, but every grieving teen should have companionship. Peer groups can be helpful. The only nonprofit that does dedicated work around grief in kids and teens and offers free grief support groups is in San Francisco. In some cases, a teen may need additional help from a therapist. If your teen begins to have depression or anger issues or starts partaking in drug abuse, they may need extra help.
I have heard countless peers say things like, “I want to help, I don’t really know how” or, “It just feels awkward and I don’t know what to say.” It would be ideal if kids knew how to support each other and didn’t feel uncomfortable anytime they are faced with negative emotions.
The simplest way to confront this problem is to educate communities and schools about grief in teens and emotions in general. Bringing this awareness would help the insecurity around emotions and allow teens to be more comfortable with themselves. Educating about the effects of grief will not only help them be more comfortable emotionally, but will also help them deal with their problems. Every teen has to deal with their grief in their own way, but it is important to have someone to help guide them through their journey.
Drug addiction and mental health
By Keenan Clarke, Miles Kotaka
and Skyler Miller
Did you know the C.D.C. estimates one in five adults and one in five teens in the U.S. have lived with a mental health issue? Many people self-medicate with dangerous drugs to mask underlying mental and physical health issues. When exposed to drugs, your mental health deteriorates and you are taking a chance at overdosing.
I am Miles Kotaka and I am raising awareness about the dangers of drug use and mental health. If you walk through San Francisco, you will see many people with mental health issues who may be managing or masking those issues with drug abuse. Mental health issues are very common in the unhoused. This topic matters to us because we have seen people struggling with mental health issues and drug abuse in our community. In a study of 1,368 Gen-Z individuals, a whopping 87 percent have experienced mental health issues. Gen-Z is the next generation of adults.
My name is Keenan Clarke, and I chose to work on this issue because I just lost my uncle to a drug overdose on the first day of school. My uncle’s death made me more aware of the dangers of drugs. As an eighth grader going to high school, I know I will be exposed to a lot more substances. I will need to be more cautious, as will everyone I know.
What my family and I went through set a spark in me. I want to make sure my friends knew the dangers of doing drugs and of not talking to people about problems you might be having. Holding everything in and masking the problem with drugs or alcohol just creates more problems. YOU need to take account and focus on staying away from drugs.
My name is Skyler Miller and the point of our Change Project is to educate our community on the danger of drugs and how they can affect your mental health. There has been a big rise in the use of fentanyl recently, including in Marin County. Fentanyl can be in anything. If a stranger offers you something like a sip of their drink or a piece of food or anything like that, do not accept it because it could have fentanyl or another dangerous drug in it and you can die or get seriously injured.
You may call or contact helplines for advice or help. You can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at (800) 622.HELP(4357). You can also contact a rehab center. Eventually we hope everyone can be safe, healthy and free from life-threatening drugs. Our action of change will be setting up an assembly in the gym where we will talk about mental health and the dangers of drug abuse. We are also trying to open our gym for sports on weekends, hoping for kids to go have fun and stay healthy if they are having a mental health breakdown. Our goal is for our peers to understand the dangers of drug abuse.
Exercise and mental health
By Luca Olivotti, Oliver Valente,
Cody Horne and Mikey Durkee
Did you know the average kid 11 to 14 spends nearly nine hours of their day in front of a screen? Just going through middle school alone, that’s over a year dedicated to social media and the internet. We are fortunate to live in a place with lots of beautiful outdoor spaces and options to engage in sports. Exercising has been shown to have many health benefits, both mental and physical.
My name is Oliver Valente and for our Change Project we are building an exercise space for students to develop healthy habits and learn techniques to help them build strength and flexibility. For my entire life, sports have been my favorite thing to do. Whether it’s playing soccer, baseball or any time I’m on a team, I’m always the happiest. Over the past few years, I’ve struggled with lots of mental and physical issues but somehow found my way back to sports and exercise every time. It’s my way to free my mind and calm down. Being a teen in 2024 means lots of social media, which comes with another big issue: body image. I find most bodybuilders inspiring. It pushes me to get stronger and look better while boosting my abilities to succeed in the sports I play. I can see how scrolling on social media might contribute to negative body image, but it motivates me and inspires me to work harder every day.
My name is Mikey Durkee and when I was 3, I picked up a baseball bat for the first time and instantly fell in love with the game. In 2022, I stepped on the scale and looked at myself in the mirror and just wanted change, so for my birthday I asked for a weight bench. This made me push hard to get in shape and go on a cut. After a month, I started to see a difference. I was feeling better about myself but my mental health kept getting lower and lower, eventually getting depressed. Two weeks later, I stopped working out and I stopped eating. I wasn’t going to school, I got unhealthy, and I had no energy for two months and eventually got sick and lost 10 pounds in six weeks. A week later, I came back to school but with even more anxiety. I had migraines and constantly felt sick and tired of everyone around me. Soon school ended, and I’ve focused on getting stronger and better at sports. Trying to fix my mental health was a big struggle, especially because I felt like nobody was supporting me except for my family. Sports mean so much to me. They make me forget about everything and everyone. This gym will be a great space for anyone wanting to get things off their mind or just relieve stress.
My name is Cody Horne and I have been playing baseball, soccer and basketball since I was little. I believe that exercising is really good for people. Playing team sports has helped me learn to work with other people and has helped me with school group projects. When kids play sports, they can connect with so many people and make friends.
My name is Luca Olivotti and I’ve been playing baseball since I was 5. Ever since then there have been a lot of ups and downs. Baseball is a very mental sport; it is easy to overthink it and psyche yourself out. I still love it, because the depressing and disappointing moments make the great moments so much better. It’s almost the same with the gym: while in the middle of a set, it’s so easy to quit but after you accomplish what you wanted to you get this rush of adrenaline and dopamine. That’s why you should get out of your comfort zone and do stuff you don’t wanna do.
In 2020 in America alone, 42 percent of adults struggle with obesity and 9 percent of adults have severe obesity. According to the C.D.C., people spend $173 billion on medical bills every year because of obesity. These numbers have grown exponentially and reach new heights every year. Americans are also spending more time on social media, seeing images of people that have been altered to appear thinner, stronger, more attractive. These images are contributing to mental health issues as people compare themselves to impossible ideals. Social media also features people in curated positive experiences, making it appear as if everyone has a perfect life.
Our way of solving this is to introduce healthy exercise habits into the lives of middle schoolers that will hopefully keep them safe and healthy for their long journeys ahead. We have added an exercise space to our school for students to use and where we can teach proper technique and injury prevention. According to a study by the National Library of Medicine, exercise has many amazing health benefits and releases hormones that help you focus, be happier and feel better overall. When you exercise it releases endorphins, which make you feel happy and help with memory and concentration. Somehow at 14, all four of us have dealt with mental health issues, and exercising has brought us back to the world. We are so excited to be able to help our classmates improve their fitness and their emotional health.
Theater programs and confidence
By Ashlyn Ferhart and Maggie List
In a world that tests our resilience and challenges our abilities, a trait that everyone needs but many people lack is confidence. Confidence can turn potential into achievement. Confidence fuels our ambitions and helps us strive to be the best version of ourselves. A great way to build self-esteem is through daily affirmations, taking care of our body, and facing our fears in healthy ways. For our Change Project, our goal is to help build self-confidence in elementary school students.
Theater can help people boost self-esteem. It can provide a safe space for people to express themselves. Kids can find ways to build skills that will help them in life, such as speaking in front of people, performing and much more. Most people in theater are more sure of themselves, partly because on stage you can be anyone, and you are in the mindset of your character. You can be a completely different person.
For our Change Project, we put together a small musical review with the elementary students. They will get up on a stage and perform a musical number. Our hope is that this will help them gain confidence and self-esteem.
My name is Ashlyn Ferhart. In elementary school, I had lots of self-esteem. My confidence may have come from the sparkly, frilly dresses I would wear daily, or it may have been that I was too young to care what anyone thought of me. Throughout elementary, talking to people was usually quite easy. The first time I did an audition, I was 8. When it was my time to sing, I was nervous. With every show, it got easier to speak in front of a crowd, but when I got to middle school, I started to doubt myself.
My name is Maggie List. In elementary school, I was not very confident. Every day was different, buy most of the time, me and another girl would be pushed to the outside and end up wandering around the school. The whole thing was a dictatorship, with our leader, her right-hand man, and then everyone else had to pay taxes. This friendship dynamic made me nervous all the time. I became scared to speak my mind or share ideas because they got shot down so often by my friends. I remember in kindergarden, my school put on a play of “Peter Pan.” I was cast as a mermaid, and all I had to do was sit down and wave my arms. When I went on stage, I started bawling. I don’t know why, but I just could not stop crying because everyone was staring at me. That’s why for our Change Project, we want people to feel sure of themselves doing things like this.
We surveyed kids in middle school on how much self-esteem they have now and how much they had in elementary school. Almost everyone said they had way more confidence when they were younger. People tend to become more self-aware as they get older and start to care more about what others think. It has been scientifically proven that people’s self-esteem rises the most from ages 4 to 11, but then starts to drop around ages 11 to 15.
Everyone at some point in their life will struggle with self-esteem problems. Some ways you can help this is by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone every so often, so you’re more open to trying new things and being more confident doing it, and by telling yourself daily affirmations. Confident people are often more happy, and happiness is a state of mind that only you can achieve.
The dangers of single-use plastics
By Tanner Lewis and Poppy Henderson
According to National Geographic, there are 269,000 tons of garbage in the Pacific Ocean, 100 percent of it from humans. Just as we put it there, it is our responsibility to take it out. The prospect of removing that much plastic is daunting but necessary. We need to stop using single-use plastics and be honest about the limits of recycling. For our project, we are going to focus on marine life, help repair the damage and draw attention to the issue.
As a society, we rely heavily on the use of plastic in our everyday lives. These products are often not good quality and fall apart easily. After they are discarded, they are transported to landfills, where a lot of them end up in waterways. The plastic is washed from creek and river banks into the ocean. Plastic in the ocean can cause major damage to the environment. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 100,000 marine mammals are killed every year due to plastic pollution. Marine life can mistake it as food or get caught in it. This poses a huge threat to ecosystems, as birds of prey rely on small animals and fish for survival. If fish consume plastic, so do the animals that eat them, including humans.
We both grew up in a town close to the beach. The beach has always been an important part of our lives and we have seen firsthand the effects of plastic pollution. As kids, we were constantly told to watch our step and to wear shoes on the beach, so as not to cut our feet on cans and other sharp objects hidden in the sand. A game that we would play during these trips was seeing who could find the weirdest-looking pieces of trash. We considered the trash to be treasure, but now we are discouraged to see discarded items on the beach. That is why it is important that we work together to protect the beach and the wildlife that relies on it.
One plastic bottle or tin can may not seem like a lot, but 269,000 tons of it is floating around the ocean. The great pacific garbage patch is an area with a high concentration of trash. Ocean Cleanup estimates it reaches 1.6 million square kilometers of surface area, roughly two times the size of Texas or three times the size of France. According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, it would take 67 ships a year to clean up less than 1 percent of the patch.
If we aim to reverse the impacts of plastic pollution in our oceans, it is essential that everyone actively participates in the preservation of marine life. Nonprofits like the Surfrider Foundation are working to increase awareness about ocean pollution. Getting involved can be as easy as picking up trash on the beach or not leaving trash. One of the most helpful things you can do is cut back on buying single-use plastic products. Shopping at local businesses and businesses that focus on being green is a great way to help. An easy way to know if a brand or store is eco-friendly is by looking for a B Certified stamp. This means the corporation is working to meet the standards of being eco-friendly. You can always pick the product with the least amount of plastic or packaging. Shifting shopping habits like these is what makes an impact.
For our project, we are spreading knowledge about plastic pollution in our community. We plan to host a beach cleanup where families can help pick up plastic, and our community can get a sense of how pollution is affecting beaches. This encourages them to be more mindful when shopping. It is daunting to think about solving the massive problem that is plastic pollution. Instead, try to focus on your local area and environments. Change starts in your community and then spreads to the rest of the world.
Writing as a form of self-expression
By Morgan Olsen
“The scariest moment is always just before you start,” Stephen King said. We all know that moment: you sit down to write a paper, your hands hovering above the keys, the cursor blinking. You are hoping for an idea but instead your mind goes blank. Writing can be one of the hardest things we do. There are so many rules, so many ways to communicate what you want to say, so many wrong and right ways to write something. In my opinion, the worst part is always just before you start. The feeling of waiting for something extraordinary to appear, yet nothing you write is good enough. When I have this experience, I find that just writing, even if it is completely terrible, can unlock something magical.
Ever since I was little, I have loved to write. It is mine and no one else’s. I use writing to express myself, work through complicated emotions, or process my feelings around life and the world. It has always been there for me as a protective shield around my heart. I have noticed that in my school, a lot of people don’t feel confident in writing. Through my Change Project, I want to try and help people understand that you don’t have to be good at writing for it to help you with mental health. Writing is the perfect way to say anything you’re thinking without feeling judgment.
Most of the writing people do at my age is academic. Academic writing and creative writing are very different. Academic writing is when you are told to write about a specific topic using a formula. Creative writing is when you get to write about what you want, for yourself. Most people won’t feel confident in writing until they have written something they feel good about. Once I feel I have written something good, I feel a lot more confident in myself. Just knowing that I can write something builds my confidence and affects my mood and academic work.
More than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Ever since the pandemic, I have noticed a lot of my peers struggling with anxiety and depression. I struggle with mental health, especially anxiety. After the pandemic, going back to school was hard. Wearing masks was strange and uncomfortable, being back in the classroom with my peers was nice but also unfamiliar. I have always been a shy, nervous kid. Since I had not been around my peers for so long, my anxiety and stress levels were not as constant, but getting back to my old routine of going to school and seeing people shifted that calm feeling almost instantly.
All the time I was nervous, and once I got to middle school, my stress was the worst it has ever been. The amount of work we had to do, making new friends, being in a new environment, constantly hearing everything that was wrong with our culture and me being helpless to do anything about it all made me feel out of control. Talking was good, but sometimes I didn’t really want to share what I was stressed about with people. Instead of talking, I would write.
Journaling and poetry are the two forms of writing I like best. Journaling doesn’t have to make sense, it’s only there for you to figure things out and talk about whatever you need to. Poetry can be written however you want and there is no wrong way. Writing has massively improved my mental health and I always use it when I need to figure out how I am feeling or just get something off my mind.
I am trying to expose more students to writing by giving them opportunities to share and do more writing. To do this I bought in Martha Allen to teach the students poetry, and Jolana Bishay to teach song writing. Both classes are leading up to a Writing Jam where people can share any of their writing.
To help with the mental health aspect of my project, I will be bringing in the Mindful Life Project for an assembly. I hope it will leave people thinking of writing as a tool to feel calmer and grounded. If I could do more to help solve this problem, I would bring these writing classes and assemblies to schools throughout Marin.
Writing has always been there for me. It is a passage into other worlds we didn’t know existed outside our mind. With the increased mental health problems and the lack of confidence in writing, I hope my Change Project can help solve both these problems in one way or another.
You are a part of this
By Sienna Ritter
The textbook definition of misogyny is “Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.” Looking back on our history, all over the world, women have been discriminated against, held back and held down. Throughout my life, my mother’s life, and my grandmother’s lives, we’ve all faced the same or similar problems. Why? The short answer is that we’re women.
I grew up hearing stories and warnings about sexual violence, and with the fear and disappointment that comes with it. The feeling of the intense need to run whenever a man is walking behind me is a universal experience. In 2022, 531,807 people were raped and sexually assaulted in the U.S. Every time I am harassed, catcalled, whistled at, followed, I am made to feel uncomfortable and part of me is always afraid of becoming a statistic.
The term “rape culture” refers to how our society has normalized violence against women. Due to the discomfort of the subject, we don’t hear about it at school or at home. Some may think this is a good thing, like you’re protecting your child, but the reality is quite the contrary.
Your kids and students are going to hear about sexual violence one way or another. If one of your peers, whom you’ve deemed “cool” makes a joke, you’re likely going to make one as well, even if you lack the knowledge of what it means. So it is the job of the teachers, parents and authority figures to educate kids on what is disrespectful and respectful.
When starting this project, I had a conversation with my teacher Katherine Sanford. We were trying to figure out a way to teach people about misogyny in a non-judgmental and non-accusatory way. We had to factor in the fact these are teenagers we’re talking about and people are allowed to make mistakes. But how far can we stretch this excuse? Where is the line and how many times can we allow people to cross it? In the long run, it’s not about your mistakes but how you handle and grow from them. If you make an offensive joke, learn that it was bad and be willing to be educated.
I contacted Peter Sanford to help me educate my peers. Peter is part of a group called Peer Resource at Archie Williams High School that is designed to offer students support around challenging topics. I had him and his team come in for an assembly about being an upstander, which means saying or doing something when you are faced with an uncomfortable situation where someone does or says something disrespectful or harmful.
The assembly was a great example of how to talk to people about misogyny and sexual assault. It was a judgment-free environment where no one was to blame. The groups were relaxed. Mistakes and questions were welcome. During the assembly, I put my peers in three groups, and surprisingly the group that needed the assembly the most participated and benefitted the most.
When approaching this issue with your kids or students or even just educating another adult on the matter, it’s important to remember that not many people even know what you’re talking about. Normalize talking about misogyny. Teach people that their words have an effect on the people around them, and educate yourself before saying something that could be or is disrespectful. I am told almost every day that “it’s just the system,” but that is no longer something I want to hear.
Food insecurity in Marin
By Rocco Russ
Can you believe that food insecurity is a problem in one of the wealthiest counties in California? Unfortunately, it’s true. The SF-Marin Food Bank estimates that one in five people in Marin was at risk of food insecurity before the pandemic, and the numbers continue to rise. According to CalFresh, California’s State Supplemental Nutrition Program, over 48,000 people in Marin are worried about where their next meal will come from. Why is this happening here?
Food insecurity means that at times, people have limited access to enough food to live a healthy life. According to Nicole Ramirez, who leads the weekly food bank at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center, the main issue for people in Marin is cost. Nicole explains, “Because it is so expensive to live in Marin, families often have to choose between food, shelter or medical expenses and many times food falls last.” She says access to food is another problem. Those unable to drive don’t have transportation to get to food easily. There is only one grocery store in West Marin, and it’s not affordable.
One of the most important values I was raised with is community service and making a difference in the world. When I learned that some people didn’t have enough food to eat, I decided to do a food drive at my school. For the past three years, I have collected food for the SF-Marin Food Bank. With the help of my peers, I collected over 1,100 pounds of food. While this might sound like a lot, according to last year’s data, the SF-Marin Food Bank supplied 68 million pounds of food.
The food bank surveyed over 9,000 families to learn about their personal challenges. People talked about how inflation and the rising cost of groceries, housing, childcare, gas, utilities and other essentials are contributing to the difficulties in buying food. Ultimately, the food bank learned “that hunger is caused by structural inequities and the impacts of poverty.” In Marin, we see a huge income gap. Certain group,s such as people of color, single parents, the unhoused, seniors, people who are disabled and veterans are at greater risk for food insecurity. According to Marin Health and Human Services, 20 percent of people in Marin are food insecure, including over 11,700 children. Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2022 and other national surveys show Latinx and Black people are consistently more worried about running out of food than white people.
So what can we do? The first thing is educate yourself and others. Another thing is to have compassion and understanding for people in need and realize that this can be any of our neighbors or even ourselves at some point in our life. People can make a difference by taking direct action, like donating money or food to food pantries and organizations. You can also volunteer at your local food bank. The SF-Marin Food Bank in San Rafael has volunteer opportunities in repacking dry goods, sorting produce, filling food boxes for seniors, packing bags for home-delivered groceries, and more.
St. Vincent De Paul in San Rafael has been providing free meals in their dining room for decades and distributes hundreds of bags of lunches each day. Community Action Marin is another local organization working hard to address hunger in Marin. Besides growing food on their organic farm, they provide healthy snacks and meals. This organization has volunteer opportunities and accepts donations.
While we can make a difference in our community, to truly end hunger, we must address the root causes. To make meaningful change, we have to create structures and systems that are equitable for everyone. We must work toward a world where food is a human right, not a privilege.
Art and self-expression
By Levi Teicher
Many kids today feel their self-expression is hindered by society and social norms. We live in a world that makes us all try to fit in, which can make it hard to be creative. Art is one of the best ways to express ourselves, and it helps with emotional and social development. Art gives kids tools to solve problems and build confidence.
Learning about art is good for kids. According to PBS, it can relieve stress and help process feelings. When kids express themselves through art, they learn to be proud of their strengths. Art also builds confidence by allowing kids to try new things and think in different ways.
Self-expression through art helps children to cope with the natural stresses of growing up. Even though art is great for kids, lack of confidence, lack of opportunity, and adherence to social norms can make it hard for kids to express themselves. We have to work to make sure all kids have the good things that come from self-expression.
To deal with these problems, we must make a safe place where kids can express themselves in schools and other places. As part of my Change Project, I am working with my classmate Alyssa White to organize an interactive art day featuring valley artists who will share their compelling stories of resilience and self-discovery through art. Students will have the opportunity to attend sessions led by these artists, delving into diverse mediums and topics such as drawing, painting, sculpture and music. Each artist will offer firsthand insights into how art has been a guiding light during tough times, fostering creativity and personal growth.
Helping kids find things they like to do or the confidence to be themselves is super important for mental health and relationships with others. Just exposing young kids to different ways of being creative can help them discover who they are and feel more confident throughout the younger years of their lives. We are hoping that our day of arts and creativity sparks confidence in our peers that will inspire them for years to come.
Skate events are good for communities
By Babu Virgo
For my Change Project, I would like to enhance our awesome skate park. We got this skate park from a previous Change Project. I thought it would be cool to skate at night, so I got the idea to add lights for a night-time event. The more people that use and enjoy the park, the more opportunities we have to expand it over time.
Skateboarding has played a big role in my life and I have gained many friendships and learned many lessons about perseverance. I started skating because my brother got me a board, and then I started doing it every day. I stopped after my friend Tao moved because he and I used to skate together every day, but I started up again a year ago and I am so glad I did.
Being outdoors and staying active is very important for mental and physical health because it gives your mind something to focus on instead of thinking about your flaws. It keeps your mind focused on something that’s good for you. Skateboarding is a great way of doing this because you get to meet cool people and have fun by yourself or with others. Skating is also very freeing. You can do tricks, cruise around, even invent a new trick. If you want, it’s a very open sport. It doesn’t have rules, just do what you want and have fun.
Night-time activities are important to give teens something to do at night so that they are not cooped up. They can keep teens out of trouble. Our Lagunitas skate park is a very open and inclusive skate park for all—young or old, big or small. Feel free to come skate or scooter and have a fun time. You can always get better and learn new tricks. There are no limitations. Get out there and ride!
The skate event will be on April 19. We will have food, skating and fun. Please come out and join me. Trying new things and spending time with friends are all things that are shown to help improve mood and school and work performance. I hope that by inspiring people to come skate with me, I will be creating more opportunities for skating in my community and beyond.
Social anxiety
By Alyssa White
Social anxiety is a problem for many people, and it affects your self-confidence, self-esteem and relationships. It is a lot more than just shyness, it’s a fear of what people think about you and being judged. Many people with social anxiety want to be around people and in friend groups, but are too scared to go and talk to them. Most people care what people think of them, but when you have social anxiety, it’s all the time. Many people with social anxiety feel as though they are not good enough for most people.
For my Change Project, I am hoping to improve social anxiety within schools in Marin by using self-expression in art. I am working with my classmate Levi Teicher to organize a day of art activities at our school. We are working with our art teacher and local artists. The hope is that by fostering creativity and self-expression, students might have additional tools to deal with their anxiety.
I did a survey of the students in my middle school and found that 65 percent of the people said they did have social anxiety to some degree. The main cause of social anxiety and low confidence in school is the fear of people not liking them and that’s causing lower self-esteem. About 75 percent of teens have social anxiety, but it is common from the ages of 8 to 15. In females of all ages overall, it’s around 12 percent, and for males overall it’s about 7 percent. The worst age for social anxiety is middle school through early high school.
Developing strategies to manage social anxiety can take a long time. However, it does help to remember that most people experience anxieties. No one has life all figured out. Learning to be kind to yourself and surrounding yourself with people who appreciate and love you really does help. Creating opportunities for self-expression and encouraging people to feel comfortable can also help. Levi and I are hoping that our day of art and artists at school inspires our classmates to feel more comfortable in the world.
Cancer kids first
By Taya Anderson and Asha Andrews
The American Childhood Cancer Organization states there are 15,780 children under 19 who get cancer. One in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday, and globally there are an average of 300,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year. Since the 1970s, the survival rate for childhood cancer has increased by almost 80 percent, but there aren’t cures for all types. The cost of cancer treatment can be very expensive, andeven if a child survives, they can face the fear it will come back, health issues and mental health side effects.
The reason we are focusing on childhood cancer for our Change Project is to help children and their families with the struggles of cancer. We want to bring them comfort and motivate them to keep fighting. Our goal is to bring them hope.
My name is Taya, and I have experienced childhood cancer within my family and family friends. My brother was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 3, and I was 2 at the time. Unfortunately, we caught his cancer when he was in stage three. His cancer affected my life more than I expected in so many ways. Even though I was young, I have so many memories of being in the hospital. I remember my parents telling him that he had bugs in his head that were trying to hurt him, so that’s why he had to get treatment. It was hard for me and my family to see him struggling with something we couldn’t help with.
After 3.5 years of battling cancer and going through nearly 100 types of treatment, he was finally free. But shortly after he beat cancer, one of my mom’s best friends’ 5-year-old daughter passed from cancer. Seeing him deal with the loss made me and my family infinitely more grateful that my brother was strong enough to survive. For the rest of my brother’s life, he will have a 50 percent higher chance of getting cancer from things like sun radiation or smoking than the regular person, and he will always have a weaker immune system.
My name is Asha Andrews, and none of my siblings have had cancer. However, I watched my cousins suffer while their mother fought back against stage four pelvic cancer. Luckily, my aunt recovered but it took a toll on our family. They ended up moving to Santa Barbara for her health. When one person in a family gets cancer, there are concerns that other members will get it and the fear that it will come back. I remember going to my cousin’s house to celebrate a holiday while my aunt had cancer, but when my parents realized I was sick, we had to leave. At the time, I didn’t understand I was putting her life in jeopardy, and I was mad because I didn’t get to spend time with my family.
According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, in the past year 1,600 children have died from the disease. The childhood cancer rate has risen about 1 percent every year since 1976, but since 1970 the cancer survival rate has gone from 58 percent to 85 percent. There is no cure for cancer but there are treatments such as chemotherapy that have many side effects and leave families paying $150,000 for a solution that might not work. When we surveyed the middle school, we found out that 66.7 percent of people had experienced cancer within their family, and 50 percent of those cancer patients had died.
After putting a lot of thought into ways we can help kids with cancer, we decided to work with an organization called Cancer Kids First and take action by starting a toy and book drive at our school’s office and the Woodacre Market. The drive ran from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18. All the items will be going to the Benioff Hospital. We hope the toys and books we collected will make a difference in kids’ lives and make them a little more comfortable with what they’re going through. We also had the eighth grade classes make cards for cancer patients that we will send to the hospital in hopes of bringing joy and light to the situation.
Low ropes and team building
By Zig Cohen and Yuri Yokim
Many kids struggle with self-esteem, and supporting peers through difficult situations can help build trust between kids. A low ropes course is a great way to practice this in a unique way that not all kids can experience. A low ropes course is a set of elements that each have unique goals and designs, from spider webs that you have to maneuver your team through to a balancing design where you have to level out a teeter totter by distributing the weight of all kids evenly. Our course will start small, with one or two elements, but it will hopefully grow over time.
For our Change Project, we are hoping to install low ropes features at our school to be used during P.E. and just to keep kids busy throughout the day. This course will hopefully be available to the community in the future. Our ropes course, if it is used correctly, can help build teamwork skills for students.
This project is important to us because we noticed a lack of team building skills amongst some students. Some seem uncomfortable with or lack confidence when it comes to team activities. Team building is an extremely important skill that students will take into their lives and grow up and start getting jobs. We would love to help improve these skills while also having fun.
Low ropes courses help people with confidence and fitness. Studies from Cal Poly Digital Commons showed emotional and social impacts on 120 people that participated in the Chumash Challenge Ropes Course. Kids who don’t do team activities outside of school usually have more challenges communicating with peers and feeling comfortable working as a team.
In sixth grade, we went to Westminster Woods, an outdoor camp where you stay overnight doing awesome activities and ropes courses. This was an amazing opportunity and we would love to implement something similar for our community.
We are expecting to have our course fully functioning before the end of this school year. We are starting with a spider web, which is a simple element that anyone can use. We are also adding a whales watch, which is similar to a teeter totter but as a group activity.
We will have two to three pieces of equipment, and we won’t be able to assemble all of it alone so we will be asking kids and possibly a few parents to help. If you have questions or concerns, or wanna help us, please reach out to Zig Cohen at [email protected], Yuri Yokim at [email protected] or Katherine Sanford at [email protected].
Strategies for managing anxiety
By Amelia Driver
Have you ever felt anxious in a social or academic situation? Turns out you’re not alone. As stated by the Healthy Children Organization, nearly one out of three adolescents experiences anxiety disorder.
I met with Dr. Peterman, a therapist at the Marin Center for Anxiety and Behavioral Therapy, who said that often kids worry about missing out on things that have been posted on social media and how they should present themselves online. “There are a lot of great things about social media, but it can also make anxiety worse for some people,” he said, adding that the most prevalent form of anxiety he sees today is social anxiety. Social anxiety is where you worry about doing the wrong things or saying the wrong things or other people judging you.
Dr. Peterman suggested that it can help teens and young people deal with anxiety to know they are not alone, because most people who deal with anxiety feel like they are alone and anxiety is not something most people can see by looking at a person.
Parents can help by listening to their kids. Often parents jump in to fix things while they should try to understand what their kids are going through. They can ask their kids if they want them to help solve their problems or if they just want them to listen.
I took a survey of the eighth grade and found that almost 67 percent of my classmates have experienced some form of anxiety. Anxiety has really affected me in the last few years. I have often felt like I was the only one dealing with the problem. I didn’t know what an impact it was having on my mental health or how many people around me were struggling with the same things. The Viewpoint Center states that about one in 10 teens admit they never set aside time to manage or take care of their stress. Only 10 percent of those with anxiety disorder receive effective help.
Some ways we can help solve this problem are: introducing more safe spaces in schools, such as wellness centers; teaching kids how to manage anxiety from a young age; checking in on friends and family and listening without judgment if someone needs your help; exercising; and much more. Anxiety is a natural part of life and though we can’t stop people from feeling their emotions, we can teach them to manage their anxiety and help others.
Schools are introducing wellness centers and offering resources to help students deal with anxiety. Archie Williams has a wellness center where students can come any time and take a break from their school work or anything else. The center also works with Peer Resource, a student-lead club that educates about issues happening amongst their peers.
If you think you might have anxiety, don’t be afraid to seek help because you are not alone and even though you can’t tell by looking at them, people around you might be going through similar things. Take a moment to check in on yourself and those around you. Take a night to yourself, get some exercise, maybe try something that puts you out of your comfort zone. By doing these things, I feel happier and more at ease. I want my friends and my community to know that you can break the cycle of anxiety. Learning to be mindful of the triggers and having tools to fall back on really makes all the difference.
Body positivity
By Delaney Felder and Noa Michel
Did you know that girls starting at age 6 can feel insecure about their bodies and lack confidence? According to the Now Foundation, “53% of thirteen-year-old girls hate their body and 78% after reaching the age of seventeen.” Negative body image can start from simple issues such as not fitting into clothes, a comment on eating habits, and comparison to other girls on social media or in daily life. Over time, this shifts to more severe problems like eating disorders, body dysmorphia and depression or anxiety. As our society struggles with these challenges, it is crucial to understand the root causes and promote body positivity—a social movement that promotes a positive view on all bodies, regardless of size, shape, gender or physical abilities.
We surveyed girls in elementary and middle school to understand how they felt toward their bodies. Some girls starting at age 7 expressed confidence levels as low as 4/10. The answers revealed that they are insecure about stomach fat, teeth, lips, torsos and more. Afterward, we passed out another survey to girls in our middle school. Most said girls’ confidence drops even more in the ages of 11 to 13. It breaks our hearts to see young girls go through the same struggles we spent so long overcoming. Our Change Project aims to explain the negative impact that a lack of physical confidence can leave on everyday life.
My name is Noa and sometimes it feels as if my insecurities have taken control of me. I was 7 the first day I looked in the mirror and wished I could change everything. I thought my stomach didn’t look right in pants, that my legs were too fat, and that my face wasn’t as pretty as my friends. At 65 pounds, I started to ask my parents about ways to lose weight and make myself look better. In sixth grade, I started to become more confident. Then I started being compared to my peers and other unrealistic beauty standards and my confidence dropped again.
My name is Delaney and body image and self-esteem have affected me in so many ways. It has set my life from a happy childhood to awful teen years. It wrecked my middle school years. I started watching how much I was eating, weighing myself, and trying to lose weight. It wasn’t anything that people said to me; it was all internal. I started to compare myself to others, especially my older sister. I was confused why I weighed more than her but she was older. I would listen to a little voice in my head saying “You are fat” and “You need to stop eating.”
Social media also made me start to think about myself and my body. You have to be small but not too small, otherwise people will say you have an eating disorder and are flat chested, but you can’t be too big or people will say you eat too much and need to work out. What people expect from young girls is unrealistic and unfair. Images and videos of flawless models dominate social media feeds, setting young girls up for a lifelong struggle of self-acceptance. Although many of these images are heavily edited, it still leaves them questioning their self-worth.
For our action, we interviewed Connie Sobczak and planned an assembly on body positivity. Connie explained her story and how body image and self-esteem affected her life and her loved ones. She created The Body Positive, a community to support all humans struggling with self-love. The Body Positive has helped so many people.
Body image is an important topic that lots of guardians don’t address. You might not know your child is struggling. They might come out of her room with the brightest smile but feeling terrible, hurt and ashamed inside. It’s always good to check in on your child and their needs because you never know what they are going through. Body image is a hard thing to talk about, so if your child, friend or peer opens up to you, be as supportive as possible.
Every person is different, unique and beautiful, and the people you are comparing yourself to might be struggling with the same things you are.
The importance of reading
By Lucas Flippo
Have you ever read a book so interesting, so captivating that it’s as if you were sucked out of reality and thrown into the book’s world? If you haven’t, you should, because it’s good for you and it’s enjoyable. There are many reasons why reading is good for your mental health. Not the least of which is becoming more empathetic.
Empathy doesn’t always come naturally to everyone. Reading can help people understand others’ emotions and relate to them. Literary fiction is particularly good because it is character-driven.
Reading can help you relax. Reading can be an escape from the real world for some folk. It’s a way to leave behind the everyday stresses of life. A 2009 study at Sussex University proved just how good reading is at relieving stress. The researchers discovered that reading a book can reduce stress by 68 percent.
Reading a book can make you smarter by expanding your vocabulary. It will help with English-related tests and can help kids get higher scores on tests in general. Reading when you’re young can make you smarter later in life, which is why it is encouraged to teach your kids how to read in a fun way.
Reading engages your brain. The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation published a study stating that reading and playing mentally challenging games can reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer’s by 2.5 times.
If you are looking for some sort of entertainment before you go to sleep, instead of watching a movie, reading is a good replacement. It is better for your brain and will allow you to sleep easier. Read an actual, physical book, not an e-book. A National Library of Medicine study says that kids who slept by one or more screens got around 20 minutes less sleep compared to kids who don’t sleep near screens. So instead of watching something on a screen, read a book and relax.
For my project, I am going to do a reading challenge at my school. I want to encourage my peers to read more. So many kids in my school just think of reading as a chore. I want to get them excited about it. It will help them be better students and bring them a lifetime of enjoyment.
In conclusion, reading is beneficial in many ways. It improves your empathy and intelligence. It helps you relax and get to sleep more easily. It slows down the effects of Alzheimer’s. So read something else besides this.
The unhoused problem in Marin
By Jai Hudson
There are over 171,000 unhoused people in California, or close to 50 percent of the unsheltered population of the U.S. is in California, according to the Guardian. This makes it clear that there is a major issue in California. There can be many reasons a person is unhoused, like not being able to buy a house, not being able to get a job, addiction or mental health struggles.
For my Change Project, I chose the issue of the unhoused because it affects thousands and could someday or already affect you or someone you love. To help, I am planning a hygiene product drive at the Lagunitas Community School. Having proper hygiene can prevent diseases, infections and can improve your outward appearance and perception by others. I am mainly looking for soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, dental floss, menstrual products, deodorant, razors, shaving cream and hairbrushes.
The unhoused issue is a complex and multifaceted issue that doesn’t have just one solution. There are many biases against the unhoused. People may make assumptions about their mental state or whether they struggle with addiction. With my Change Project, I hope to help this population. I encourage everyone reading this to do what they can: donate, volunteer, do drives, research and spread awareness about the unhoused in California. There are many good resources, including the 211 free and confidential referral phone number to help the unhoused find services. Ritter Center in San Rafael has many services: a food pantry, health care and housing services. North Marin Community Services in Novato offers a wide range of services like food, education, childcare and health care. I hope this article will encourage the community to support this population.
Fitness: The key to a well-balanced life
By Floyd McCall
Fitness and sports are important for many things, not just physical health and body. In your daily life, physical activity is an underestimated approach to maintaining a healthy mind and body. This article explores the benefits of fitness and sports, and why incorporating them into our daily lives is crucial for your wellbeing.
Fitness is important because it not only helps with physical health but with mental health too. For my project, I organized soccer tournaments at school during lunch time to encourage more people to play sports. I am also going to do tournaments in the spring. Lots of kids in my school play sports on teams but don’t always want to play at school. I hope by organizing tournaments it makes more kids want to play. In West Marin, 31.6 percent of people are overweight. They could counteract that by just lifting weights and getting exercise. I think I am qualified to talk about this because I am also trying to get more exercise. Some ways to get exercise are running, sports, weightlifting and yoga. I think the best way to get exercise is sports because you have to try hard and most sports have a lot of running. Only 28 percent of Americans are getting exercise. Exercise is important because if you don’t exercise and stay fit, you develop diseases like diabetes, and it also keeps you in a good and a good mind.
The horrors of factory farming and how you can put an end to its tyrannical reign
By Alessa R. Faust
Have you ever cuddled a really big pig? l did that at Rancho Compassion in Nicasio, a ranch for recovering animals to recuperate after they have been harshly treated. When I was there, I realized that many animals get treated poorly, separated from their families and killed. I decided to become a vegetarian and to learn more about animal cruelty on farms and in the wild.
A large contributor to animal cruelty is factory farming. The main problem is that people might know about this issue, but they don’t do anything about it. In this paper, I will provide information on the problem of factory farming and offer some actions on how you can help.
I am qualified to write about this problem because I care really deeply about animals, especially about how they get treated. At home, I have more than 10 fish, three dogs and two cats. Whenever I’m on a walk, I always look for animals and pet dogs. I love to read about animals and know many facts. Last year, I went to Rancho Compassion and I became sad, mad and curious when I heard about how animals are treated. There was one cow, Louie, who had been in danger of being killed for his meat. His caretaker brought him to Rancho Compassion to protect him. When I heard his story, I was shocked and it made me listen more to the tour guides.
Eating meat is bad for the environment for many reasons. First, there’s the land. Many people destroy wild and sacred areas in the world, and areas like the Amazon rainforest could be completely gone by the turn of the century. Cattle ranching takes up huge amounts of space, and after the cattle eat, they release methane gas, which is responsible for heating the planet. It is a cycle of destruction.
Many animals don’t get the chance to roam around outside. Factory farming is bad for the environment and humans alike, but it’s awful for one other category: the animals who grow up in horrible conditions only to end up in our refrigerators. Cows, pigs and chickens are all kept in filthy situations and given medicine that we end up ingesting as well. This is creating a situation in humans that isn’t safe either.
If you want to eat meat, try to find meat from local farms where the animals were treated with respect and not fed chemicals and medicines. Mostly, try to eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts , fish, grains, eggs, dairy, legumes and all the other stuff you need to live healthily and happily.
One of the main reasons factory farming is so common is because most people don’t know what happens in those grim buildings. Please tell people what you have learned and encourage them to eat a mostly plant-based diet, for themselves and the planet.
If there are demonstrations, talks, or drives in your community, join them or show your support. You can help with information dissemination, volunteering or campaigning for animal rights and welfare groups or local trade organizations. Another thing you can do is support local farm animal sanctuaries that help animals recover from factory farming. It may not seem like it, but it will help a lot. These are the small steps to success that you can make to eliminate factory farming forever.
Combatting antisemitism in America
By Murray Michelson
Antisemitism is a problem in society today. At my school, I have heard friends and classmates make antisemitic jokes and reference unflattering stereotypes that have become normalized. Due to this language, people cannot seem to tell whether something should or shouldn’t be said, and it’s even worse online. When behind a screen, a lot of people’s filters turn off and some of the things I have heard said to me and others are nauseating. Without some kind of major change in our knowledge of Jewish people and their relationship with discrimination over thousands of years, and in our ability to think about what we say before it comes out, it’s just going to get worse.
I started noticing more antisemitism after beloved musical artist Kanye West took to Twitter in 2022 and used his platform to spread antisemitic hate. The Anti Defamation League, which fights antisemitism and prevents bias from spreading, tracks antisemitism across the U.S. After this event, there was a spike in antisemitism, but the worst spike I saw was at my school. I realized that if someone like Kanye could cause antisemitism to spread that easily, I would have to make some changes at my school.
Right now, antisemitism is hard to talk about with everything happening with Israel and Palestine. Due to that, finding unbiased information can be a challenge. I believe I am qualified to discuss antisemitism because I have experienced it myself. These experiences motivated me to learn more about Jewish history and how antisemitism endures through generations. I also also talked with Shereen Bhalla, who expanded my knowledge.
According to statistics from the A.D.L., since the massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, antisemitic events reported to them have risen 300 percent. That is the largest spike since they started tracking reports in 1979, and it is over 2,000 incidents in the span of a few months. The reports include 40 incidents of physical assault, 337 incidents of vandalism, 749 incidents of writing or verbal harassment, and 905 rallies including antisemitic rhetoric and expressions of support of anti-Zionism.
About two years ago, I was on my computer late at night playing games. I was having an amazing time talking to the people until someone asked me something. It was a guy on the other team asking me to say something antisemitic about myself. Not realizing how offensive it was, I said it. Then it hit me. I was shocked and disgusted. This experience showed me that this was an issue worth talking about.
You can get involved by donating to a trusted organization that combats antisemitism or by attending a rally, talk or speech. The A.D.L. and the J.C.R.C. are great examples of organizations that help combat antisemitism. Working to educate people about Jewish history as my Change Project subject is one of the best choices I have ever made in my educational career. I believe that if I can make a change in my community on antisemitism, it could lead to making an impact everywhere. Whether it be integrating what we teach in school, or reporting an antisemitic incident, the only way something can happen is if we change what needs to be changed, do what needs to be done, and stop antisemitism for good.