Students Promoting Equity, Art, and Knowledge
Who Are We?
Troy Howard Middle School's 8th grade social studies students have explored creating art and spreading awareness and information based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We chose individual rights to research, found current events that showed that right being denied or infringed upon and created art pieces representing the importance of that right.
Our Mission
Our mission is to inspire, educate, and make a difference. We hope to raise awareness about human rights violations through the universal language of art. We are the future generation and we're here to spread knowledge and make you stop and think about our world. It is our goal to help people acknowledge injustices so that future generations will be able to grow up in a more fair and accepting society.
S.P.E.A.K. is a part of a larger project called The Samantha Smith Challenge. The Samantha Smith Challenge is, "a project-based educational program for middle and high school students designed as a dynamic service-learning project that builds a bridge between the classroom and the world."
We would like to thank Robert Shetterly, Connie Carter, and the entire Americans Who Tell the Truth organization for running the Samantha Smith Challenge. Thanks, especially to Robert and Connie, for coming to visit us at Troy Howard as we began our projects. It was so inspirational to see some of the portraits in person, and to share our ideas with you both.
Thank you to the Hutchinson Center for being willing to work with 8th grade students! We are so proud to be able to share our work in the H. Allen and Sally Fernald Art Gallery. A special thanks to Laura Matthews for all your help with organizing the gallery display and opening!
Thanks to all the generous donors who supported our Donors Choose project! Thank you Pam Wilcox, Laura Hutt, Abby Hutt, Carmen Lessard, Meg Berall, Sue Sinclair, and Down East Innovation LLC. Without your help, this project wouldn't have been possible. Thank you so much for supporting this educational experience!!