Elizabeth Rowe-Baehr

Empathy and compassion need practice. Understanding and advocacy need encouragement. Please consider being part of this vital movement!

Enough is enough. It is time we have tough conversations about our global reality and choose to be part of the solution. This high school English elective aims to create a space where young people can learn from one another and explore perspectives different from their own. As students begin to listen to other voices, the Jamestown High School Justice for All class will charge each participant to take action against injustice and make a difference in society for the good of all.

The purpose of this course is to create a safe, supportive, and informative space where students are compelled to dig deep, beyond the echochamber of modern media, into our history and our current reality. Local partnerships and literary narratives help to bring a name, face, or personal experience to the surface of these troubling issues.

Part of this semester journey is identifying how each student has a personal passion for which he/she/they needs to take a step. Homelessness, mental health, racism, rights for the LGBTQ community, youth activism, environmental justice, human trafficking, addiction, domestic violence, rights of people with disabilities, ageism, gender equality… there's a long list of human rights needs right now, but it is important that we not remain in awe of them. Instead, this Justice for All course aims to promote social advocacy and action.

My desire is that Justice for All will encourage students to not give up or give in. That they would seek what is good and refuse to ignore the oppressed, lonely, silenced neighbor next to them. We've heard that in small acts of compassion that this world can be better; I still believe it and I see it in them. Our experience has even given me a renewed sense of how our time and space here is an opportunity to dig deep and begin to do the hard work. My bottom line conviction for us is to keep on, stay woke, and aim for better. Empathy and compassion need practice. Understanding and advocacy need encouragement. Please consider being part of this vital movement! Enough is enough. It is time we have tough conversations about our... read more