JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. — The Aspen Institute, a national non-profit, asked high school students to not only think about the big problems they face, but also how to fix them.
Three teams from Boston Public High Schools were cited for their projects.
Later this month, they will get all-expense-paid trips to Colorado for a conference to share their findings.
Students at the Margarita Muniz Academy looked into ways to stop school shootings.
It’s a situation we see too often around the world these days.
Through May 13th, CNN found there have been 15 shootings on college campuses and 8 at K-12 facilities.
Those attacks left 9 dead and 33 injured.
Johendy Aries, a member of the team at the Muniz Academy, said, “I feel like in every shooting there’s always a victim. There’s potential that’s lost. There’s that person that won’t be able to see their family anymore. That whole family is going to be sad.”
As competitors in the Aspen Challenge, the Jamaica Plain students held a symposium with community leaders about preventing school shootings.
From that, they created a playbook so any student-led group could do the same things.
They also produced a dramatic video that depicts the human cost of these shootings.
Brenda Troncoso, another team member, said this issue of school violence means a lot to her.
“The first time we heard about the challenge, it was like boom, that’s what we wanted to find a solution for. It just stuck with us, because all of us have either experienced it, or like have people that went through these types of gun violence issues.”
Head of school Dania Vazquez said this project showed the students “they can be change makers.”
She believes that’s an important life lesson for them to realize they can be part of a solution.
“They’re great leaders and I’m very proud of them.”
These students are proud of their work, too. They look forward to sharing their ideas with peers from around the country.
Lizmery Mejia added, “I think there there’s always problems, but if you can like step up and find a solution for it, other people can use that solution, and it can make a change in the world.”
This was the first year the Boston Public Schools had teams present ideas to the Aspen Challenge.
The Kennedy Academy for Health Careers and Excel High School were also cited for their work.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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