On Thursday May 6th, Students Sharing Coalition hosted Mapping Day with our Highlandtown Middle School # 215 Operation AWARE students. The day consisted of exploring the Highlandtown community to assess its needs and resources and chart their findings on maps. They also interview community leaders and shop owners to discuss what they feel are important issues in their community and how students can create positive change. In the afternoon, students gathered for lunch at the South East Anchor Library and got a chance to speak to a panel of community leaders. Keynote Speaker George VanHook, Sr. of the Baltimore City School Board addressed the crowd about the importance of having goals for the future and a plan to accomplish them. Panelists including Pastor Mark Parker of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sherri Goodall of Downtown Locker Room, Stephanie Porter of the Southeast Community Development Corporation, and Eric Imhof of Banner Neighborhoods spoke to students about the work they are doing in Highlandtown and the importance of youth involvement
Here’s what Middle School Coordinators Zara Cadoux and Denise Mack had to say about the event.
Could you describe Mapping Day?
Zara: Mapping Day is a day for students in Operation AWARE to identify the resources in their community. Often communities are looked at in terms of their needs and not in terms of the things that they offer, it’s for us to emphasize to our students that they are not in a community that merely lacks.
Denise: Mapping Day is when we get the 7th grade class out of the building; they explore the community to see what resources are available to them and throughout the day meet with community leaders to learn strategies to make changes in their community.
What do you hope students learn from the experience?
Zara: We hope students will see things in their community that they may have walked by and never noticed. We want them to talk to people with whom they have never spoken before. Foster a sense of pride in where they live.
Denise: We hope students learn to recognize the world around them; notice things they take for granted and realize they have the power to change their community.
What do you think was a highlight of this year’s Mapping Day?
Zara: A highlight for many of the students was hearing commissioner VanHook speak about change and the importance of setting personal goals. He is a very powerful speaker and made quite an impression on our Highlandtown youth. A personal highlight was seeing all the groups arrive at the library as they returned from mapping, everybody looked so happy because they had so much fun.
Denise: I think the panelists were a highlight. A lot of them engaged with the students. I remember Commissioner VanHook asked a student “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and her eyes lit up, as if no one had ever asked her that before or taken an interest in her future. This is part of our purpose, to show our students that they can shape their future. The panelists also served as mentors to students.
How did you recruit volunteers?
Zara: We were lucky enough to have Sherri Goodall, the Community Outreach Manager of Downtown Locker Room bring some of her staff to volunteer.
Denise: We also used staff members of Highlandtown Middle School.
What do you think volunteers gained from the event?
Zara: I think volunteers had fun working with and meeting Middle School students. For many it was a chance to brush up on their group facilitation skills, see a part of Baltimore they might not know that well, and get a chance to hear panelist speak about different community projects.
Denise: I think volunteers gained a renewed appreciation and understanding of youth, because they got to see that young people care about their community.
