Gandhi's Birthday at Austin HS

The hallway becomes suddenly quiet after a busy and engaging lunch hour

It felt good to be with Hart and Tami today at our SOY table at Austin HS on Gandhi's Birthday. Students were eager to do the t-shirt challenge, and we had about 30 students earn themselves a shirt during the lunch period. They offered their ideas for how to "Be the Change They Want to See in the World" and the most common sentiment expressed was to be kind. 

A few of the many student responses

When we asked students how they have recently used their First Amendment freedoms, quite a few mentioned that they had taken part in the student walkout and "March for Our Lives" protest last year following the Parkland school shootings.  Students also said that they speak up and share their views during classes and in discussions with friends.  One student said that he writes for the school newspaper and plans to study journalism in college.  Gender equality was mentioned a number of times as being an important point of discussion at Austin HS, and we had noted in a recent Austin American-Statesman article that the homecoming court at Austin HS was going for 'royalty' rather than 'kings' or 'queens' as a way to express equality for gay or lesbian homecoming candidates.    

With midterm elections coming up and some students becoming eligible to vote, we heard that there have been voter registrars at the school, which was good news. 

Penny Poll results showed Education getting the highest priority at 27% of the budget, followed by Health Care at 23%, the Environment at 20%, 16% for the Military, 7% for Humanitarian Aid and 7% for NASA.

Thanks to all Maroons for participating today!

some of our materials

buttons at the table