The Conscious Classroom

Even though I have blogged on Social Justice before here is a example on how social justice can impact one city and the community involved.

How would you feel if you were a high school student who attended a run down school? Learning environments are meant to be up to date for students to feel good about where they attend school. In Chicago's West Side there is a high school by the name of Little Village Lawndale High School (LVLHS). Students have to travel a distance to get to school. Parents and teachers rallied together to get a new school built closer to other students. The rally consisted of a nineteen day hunger strike in order to get this project completed. They were successful after sicx years of fighting and the school was opened in 2005.

After the school was build parents had a new cry for help. " The parents kept saying they really wanted our school to teach the values of peace and struggle, says Rito Martinez, the principal of Social Justice High School at LVLHS, and what the community had to do to fight for the school. One of four small schools housed on the campus, Martinez's social justice school was specifically created to foster basic skills and literacy--as well as critical inquiry--through projects and problems centered on race, gender and economic equity. " The principal wants his students to understand this concept because 98% of the students are from low income families. Students like to express their feelings on how advertisements influence kids today. After Congress passed The No Child Left Behind Act schools across the nation are now linking education, social justice, and activism within the classroom. Students deserve to learn in the most comfortable environment with no restrictions. Social justice is important to the field of education.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080225/doster