Social justice isn't about showcasing deficit situations.  It's about moving yourself and others to action.  After using data on increasing visits to food shelves to teach percent increase/decrease and using food deserts to teach parts of a circle, students were excited to hold our school’s first ever food drive.  This went beyond the math classroom as students spoke with other teachers and classes, helped make morning announcements and made posters and signs.  In all, students collected over 450 pounds of canned goods and spent 4 hours in a nearby food shelf, packaging over 4,000 meals.  Students were so inspired by this experience that as they moved into a circles unit and focused on food deserts, students asked to perform another community service.  They wrote letters to their mayor with suggestions about ways to meet the needs of community members needing food. 

 

Below is a copy of the correspondence students received from their Mayor in response to their letters.  In the highlighted paragraph, Mayor Carter refers to students' suggestions, including more community gardens and having fresh food in corner stores and gas stations.  

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In a Proportional Relationships Unit, students were exposed to how ways big tobacco companies target people of color and other marginalized groups.  Students took action, creating billboard posters, websites and TV ads to explain how smoking and vaping affect our lives. These were shared with Thetruth.com. 

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