Song & Marquis presenting at The Great River Gathering 2015, after learning about opportunity at community meeting at our school.
Offer to Host Community Meetings
In several English/Social Studies block classes at GPHS, we offered to host community meetings with the caveat that they occur during school hours when students could silently observe. One of the first organizations to take us up on the offer was the St. Paul Riverfront Corporation. Students were able to listen to the meeting and overhear the policy making process.
As a result of the meeting, the director of the Riverfront Corporation offered some speaking spots to Gordon Parks students, if they were interested. We learned more about the opportunity, and ultimately two students, Song and Marquis, ended up presenting at the Riverfront Corporations annual gala. For an article they wrote for the local paper about the opportunity, click here.