Medway High to Hold Civics Day March 16th

This month, on March 16th, Medway High School students will have a chance to learn about civics, thanks to Aubree Rojee, social studies teacher Educational Leader for the Humanities at Medway High School.
“We have always wanted to better support our student population in civic engagement,” says Rojee. “The town of Medway has some phenomenal leaders in it, and we wanted to build an environment in which students (learn to) live locally, but think globally and ethically.”
Rojee designed an event for students in which they could meet face-to-face with leaders in their community.
The keynote speaker for the day will be Representative Jeff Roy, but the event will also feature Medway players from Selectmen, Town Administrator, Town Clerk and School Committee members to members of various committees such as Open Spaces, Parks and Recreation, and the Medway Business Council.
During one half of the day, says Rojee, half the school will attend the keynote address, while the other half will be engaged in various simulations. Later, the groups will switch. Students will also participate in a local government “quiz bowl,” says Rojee.
The simulations will run the gamut, says Rojee. “They are topics (students) have to support or figure out a plan for – everything from changing our school start time to a plastic bag ban. In one a student will pretend to run for office.”
For the school start time simulation, students might meet with the town finance director to talk about how start times impact bussing, meet with the superintendent on what state law requires regarding time and learning. They will meet with local government members to talk about how those areas would respond.
Similarly, with the plastic bag ban simulation, students might meet with Selectmen and the Medway Business Council.
“We teach them all the considerations they’d need to make about their change, or tell them what they need to move forward,” says Rojee.
The event, says Rojee, “is something I’ve always had a dream to do, but we’ve also seen students becoming more and more active and interested in politics and the world around them, so we wanted to seize that enthusiasm.”