As the end of the semester nears, the Faith in Action religion class is gearing up to present their Justice Fair. The senior religion class, taught by Ms. Kaitlyn Gathje, has spent the whole semester creating projects on different social justice issues. 

Each student taking the class chooses a social issue that they are passionate about to focus on for the whole semester. Through the lessons taught in the class, the students can understand their respective issues and ways to make a change. “Throughout the semester they have been learning about analyzing different social justice issues and then learning about how to advocate for them as well,” Gathje said. 

After learning more about their topics, the students learn and implement effective ways to advocate for these issues. Some students are fighting for their cause by writing letters to legislators to promote policy change; others are creating social media accounts to get the word out. “The students are learning how to develop their voice, to think about an audience who might be interested in an issue, and how to market this to an audience,” Gathje said. 

The range of issues focused on by each student is wide. Some students are looking at issues across the world, such as the illegal organ harvesting in China, the accessibility of female hygiene products in developing countries, and the environment. Others are focusing on problems that apply more to high school students like sexual assault in high school and bullying. 

Senior Pedro Ochoa is bringing advocacy towards the issue of how immigrant detention centers are being handled. Ochoa feels that the immigration detention centers are not being run properly and that the immigrants are not receiving basic rights. For his advocacy part of the project, Ochoa is trying to bring speakers who have witnessed the borders and have worked there. “The language is a big problem, so a lot of groups go down there to help. I’m trying to bring people in to talk about what they saw,” Ochoa said. 

Jacinda Smith is working with her mom to advocate for awareness around the issue of domestic abuse. She has always found this issue very important and wanted to find a way to get involved.  “My mom volunteers at an organization that works with domestic abuse victims, so I’m working with my mom about ways I can help,” Smith said.  

To round out their semester of work, the students participate in the Justice Fair. They display their projects and hard work to other students and teachers.“The justice fair is an opportunity to show the larger BSM community what they have been working on and hopefully engage students, faculty, and staff in their work,” Gathje said.