I’m not one of your normal blog readers, but I’ve seen that you’ve been digging into racism in your blog posts and I wanted to share with you this story from Vermont Public Radio: […]

I came across this story from Vermont Public Radio yesterday and I wanted to share it with you since it focuses on perceptions of racism in Vermont.

Erik

I’m back because I wanted to share this story from Vermont Public Radio with you: http://digital.vpr.net/post/do-you-think-racism-problem-vermont-today-poll-looks-states-perception#stream/0

Erik

It looks as though you chose to further explore two aspects of your original mind map: white supremacy and the YWCA. Since there is no description to accompany the mind map, I’m curious why pick these […]

This is another amazing mind map! I really appreciate that you had a solid focus on the action piece in this map. That has been one of my recurring questions for you throughout this process and you […]

Thanks for sharing your mind map. Looking at it, it seems to me that the implementation of proficiency-based grading at your school has been rough. Is that a safe assumption? I also wondered how much […]

Awesome job getting this done well before the deadline. I’ve been reflecting on all the writing and thinking you’ve done so far as I think about what to write. It seems to me that you are determined to […]

Thanks for sharing your mind map. I think it reflects your desire to dig deep into this issue and try to gain a full understanding of it.

Two aspects of your map got me thinking. The first was the […]

Thanks for fixing the link. It worked for me and your mind map is pretty amazing. I was also not familiar with Coggle and it seems like a tool that is really well suited for mind mapping. Thanks for […]

I like that you included some images on your mind map. You’ve managed to meet the deadlines each week by not only completing the task but also finding time to include creative and personal touches, […]

Wow, this is quite a change of direction. However, I’m really impressed by your self-reflection about what is important to you, as well as your courage to make a sharp turn in the middle of this […]

I want to applaud you for seeking out differing perspectives while conducting these conversations. I’m impressed that you actively sought out someone whose opinion differs from yours.

Your […]

Great work with the interviews. Even though they were all family members, you got three unique perspectives on the issue.

Having read your detailed summary of the interviews I have some questions. […]

Great work with your interviews. I like that you sought out a new perspective by reaching out to a friend in Tennessee. To fully understand a topic requires looking at it from multiple and varied […]

Thanks for sharing this thoughtful post. It’s really interesting to hear about your experiences as well as those of the artists. I also think you came up with some great questions, especially the first […]

I love the symbolism in both the title and image you chose for this post. They are both really thoughtful choices.

I am also impressed by the depth of your knowledge on this topic. You’ve clearly done […]

First, I really like the quote that you chose for your featured image. To me, it seems like a statement of your strength.

Second, I’ve observed that both your blog posts have referenced your […]

Thanks for your thoughtful post about racism. Your writing has captured the fact that racism is present in so many different aspects of our lives. You mention television, politics, and sports among […]

I love the passion around taking action and making a difference that I can sense in your writing. You’ve signed up for the right course; this year you’ll be able to take your passion and energy and […]

It was great to meet you at the kick-off day. Although this course will challenge you, at the end of the year I think you’ll find that you will have made an impact that extends beyond your […]

It was great to meet you at the kick-off day and I love that you are in What’s the Story in order to get out of your comfort zone. In my experience, students who have thrived in this program are […]

It was nice to meet you at the Kickoff Day last week. It sounds like you are in WtS for the right reasons. You are here to work with others who want to work towards a shared goal, and other students are […]

I’m pleased to see you broadened your research and looked at what other tribes around the world have done to innovate. It’s important to have a broader context when trying to fully understand localized […]

There is a lot in this mind map; probably too much to fully address in one year of What’s the Story. However, I also see several doable action steps within the map from improving (creating?) queer […]

I like this mind map because I can see several possible action steps emerging from this work. One would be focused on incorporating the Abenaki in Vermont curricula and the other would be focused on […]

This is a really thoughtful post that does a good job digging into the issue. In terms of locating resources about Vermont, I wonder if you have looked through the data collected by the YRBS survey? […]

This was a really interesting post to read. It seems like the speaker who visited your school last week has really changed your thinking. The fact that a noticeable chunk of the CVU population had […]

It’s an interesting blog post and I love the wonder you have about “who gets to decide how the world works, and why it can’t be us.” These are the questions we want all students asking.

On a […]

Though the post it short, it is very powerful. I’ll be curious to see what you decide to settle on as a social issue to pursue in this course.

By the way, this post needs a ‘featured image.’ The […]

Welcome to WtS.

I love the questions you pose: “What does a highschooler have to do to change peoples minds? What am I capable of doing?” These are questions we want all students to wrestle with, not […]

I really like the featured image you chose. Is a picture of yours or one you found online?

I also like the positivity in this first post and I hope you hold on to that throughout this course and […]

I heard this commentary on VPR tonight and wanted to share it with you: http://digital.vpr.net/post/schubart-consensus

I was reminded of your project on the pipeline as I listened to him explain what […]

If you incorporate some of the information that both Shel and I shared with you, that should make the sections on public opinion and the Vermont Gas perspective more detailed and equivalent to what you […]

I think as you refine your pitch, I’d like to see you continue to work on better connecting the larger issue of sexual assault to the dress code. The pitch starts with a macro look of sexual assault but […]

First, having read your previous blog posts, I’m already kind of hooked on this topic. It’s such an interesting local case study on how complicated and messy it can be to try and balance environmental […]

I enjoyed looking through your mind map. It showed me you’ve done some deep thinking and, given the specific names and events mentioned, you’ve done some in-depth research, too.

As you continue, I […]

First, let me say that although it makes it more complicated to work through, I love that you drew dotted lines to show connections between things grouped in different categories. It shows a deep level […]

Your mind map shows me a couple of things. First, you’ve done a lot of deep thinking about the issue and, second, as the map clearly shows, dress code is a complex issue. For example, the ‘importance’ […]

I really like the questions you generated at the end of the second paragraph. I know we had talked about short term and long term effects on Saturday, but the other ones are fascinating to consider also. […]

I really like how you have begun to connect your issue of interest (dress codes in schools) to some larger issues that the country is dealing with (eating disorders, sexism, rape culture, etc.). It makes […]

My name is Erik Remsen and I am one of the mentors in this program. I read your post since it focuses on refugee resettlement, an issue that I have some interest in as well. I am also a former teacher […]

I’m sharing this link to the Muslim Girls Making Change website with you: http://muslimgirlsmakingchange.weebly.com/ Take some time to look through it.

So now, you’re surely asking, “how is this […]

Thought this might interest you: It’s an article from the student newspaper at BHS about a dress code incident that happened there recently: http://bhsregister.com/dress-code-incident-raises-concern/ […]

You may have already come across this source (http://vtclimate.org/) but if not, it could be useful because it focuses specifically on climate change in Vermont.

Previously, you had expressed an […]

Thank you for taking the time to write in-depth about each of your topics of interest. After reading through your post, I am wondering if you are more interested in looking at one of these issues inside […]

Reading this post, I wonder about the possibility of looking at the intersection of music and writing and one of the other topics that interest you. For example, how do the arts (music, writing, etc.) […]

My name is Erik Remsen and I am one of the mentor teachers this year. I loved seeing your observation that “the world is everything at once,” and not split into individual silos, such as those like […]

My name is Erik Remsen and I am one of the mentor teachers in this program. I’m excited to see that you have several ideas for possible research topics. They all have great potential and you’re right, […]