Filled with incredible enthusiasm and a singular goal to bring Kansas Citians together to better understand the political issues facing Jackson County, Missouri, 116 University Academy and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy high school students have been working for the last several months on a social justice project that resulted in an upcoming Candidates Forum.
The forum, which takes place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. May 13 at University Academy, 6801 Holmes, Kansas City, MO, is hosted by students from both schools and promises to bring much energy to the political conversation in Kansas City. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Hot topics up for discussion include: police and community relationships, vacant and abandoned properties, living wages and youth extracurricular activities.
HBHA senior David Liebschutz, who will serve as co-moderator of the event, said, “I think it’s really important the city candidates know what’s important to us, and it’s critical that we, as the next generation, start talking about the topics we care about now. Otherwise, how will we see any progress on these issues?”
Communities Creating Opportunities (CCO) — a faith-based community organizer which brings congregations and religious orgs together to advocate for common interests — is guiding the students through this process.
“CCO exists to discover, develop and direct the power of everyday people of faith to move human dignity to the center of public life. We work with more than 100 diverse congregations in the Greater Kansas City metro to help them transform the systemic barriers to opportunity and promote racial equity. This project was a natural fit,” said Kathryn Evans, who has helped manage and facilitate the project for CCO.
University Academy college counselor and social justice project co-advisor Joshua Burdette says the collaborative work has been a great teaching tool as well.
“First, they’re gaining an insight into the democratic process, how it works and how they can make an impact. I also think that they’re learning that no political issue is simple; they’re full of nuances, similar, yet different points of view and bureaucratic obstacles. From a event planning point of view, they’re seeing all of the steps, big and small, that must be taken in order for an event like this to come to fruition,” Burdette said.
A tale of two schools
Todd Clauer, Upper School principal and the creator and supervisor for the HBHA Social Justice Project explained that this project stemmed from a yearlong social justice project at HBHA, which focused on learning about the voting process in our community.
“What began as a quest to get out the vote during the November elections in Kansas City has turned into so much more. Since coming together on the project, University Academy and HBHA students are gaining insight into addressing concerns in our community, as well as how to work with other microcosms of the community,” Clauer said.
The project blossomed from there. The evening, which will focus on the candidates and their perspective on the hot topic issues presented, will get additional flavor from slam poetry performed by some of the students.
Burdette and Clauer both look to the longer-term success of the project as well.
Said Burdette, “Our students are becoming friends with their peers at HBHA. It’s exciting for them to not only get to interact, but also work with students from another school, especially one that is similar in size to University Academy. It’s fun to see them become closer and closer with every meeting that we have together.”
Clauer added, “We are very pleased with the results of the collaborative project. We are working with a group of diverse students who wanted to have a positive impact on our community, and CCO has done an excellent job showcasing what the big issues are in Kansas City.”
HBHA Head of School Howard M Haas said this project has been an incredible journey for the students.
“We are looking forward to great conversation at the panel. I have dreamed of a partnership with University Academy for many, many years. I am so excited to see it come to fruition,” Haas said.{/mprestriction}
