Social Justice Expo!

On May 10^th, the seniors represented the Parsons Scholars program in our first participation in the fourth annual Social Justice Expo at NYU, where over 300 NYC high school students present over 35 youth-led projects including topics such as immigration, teen pregnancy, the environment, gun violence, tolerance, discrimination, poverty, housing, and education.

At this event, students showcase their projects for each other and for evaluators who examine each project in areas such as research, collaboration, creativity, organization, enthusiasm in their presentations, and the impact and potential change created by each project. The Scholars were excited to have an opportunity to share the anti-gun violence public service announcements they designed and created with the public, and the enthusiasm of their presentations was reflected in the positive and supportive feedback they received. 

 

 We were pleasantly surprised to run into sophomore Scholars Anthony Suarez and Griselda Vazquez who were presenting a clean-up project, "Queens, Te Quiero Limpio", with the Pan-American International High School. 

Many thanks to the volunteer committee members from Brooklyn International High School, Validus Preparatory Academy, Bushwick School for Social Justice, the Education for Liberation Network, Make the Road New York, Total Equity Now and the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs at New York University who made this event happen.  It was inspiring to participate in an event where hundreds of teens act on an interest in creating positive changes through projects that address a wide range of ideas including access to clean water, immigration rights, child soldiers in Colombia, cleaning up our local neighborhoods, the role of sweatshops in society, and school closures in our area.  

We look forward to participating again next year!