A project of prevention

Anna Scott helped her classmates with the lighting as they shared poetry, music and dance performances about human trafficking on Friday in the auditorium of Hermitage High School. The Raising Voices recital was a collection of some of the projects students completed as a part of the Prevention Project curriculum, which teaches students about human trafficking.

Although she’s helping out, Scott has her own project with classmates Harriet Ramasamy and Silvia Bower-Heeg. Earlier in the week, they gave a presentation to students at Tucker High School about what they have learned throughout the Prevention Project and how young people can get involved in the issue.

“The amount of people who were interested and asked me questions was really inspiring, just seeing people who were interested in what they can do to make that difference in their community,” Scott said.

The students began their presentation by gauging what others already knew about human trafficking. Most students replied that they didn’t know anything. Some now plan to use the information Scott gathered for their presentation at the next school board meeting in hopes of spreading the Prevention Project to all health classes in the county, she said.

Scott is one of 38 students in the senior cohort at the Hermitage High School Humanities Center this year, according to Jeannine Chewning, who teaches the Prevention Project every year. Students share the projects they create as a part of the final unit on student activism.

Students create a variety of different projects, including visual artwork, performing arts, editorials and presentations. After gaining approval of their ideas from teachers, students are responsible for creating their projects and figuring out how to effectively share them with an audience.

“The biggest requirement that we said about these projects was, ‘You have to think about who your audience is and how you're going to reach your audience,’” Chewning said.

The projects also teach students important life skills such as reserving venues, giving presentations and emailing or calling people, she said.

Hermitage High School piloted the human trafficking curriculum in 2012, Chewning said. At the time, Secondary Social Studies Specialist Mike Hasley served on the board of the Richmond Justice Initiative, which had developed the curriculum with a grant from AT&T. The Richmond Justice Initiative later merged with the Virginia Beach Justice Initiative, rebranding to Freekind.

Although other teachers in the division have previously taught the Prevention Project, Chewning said she is only aware of Godwin High School teacher Anna Bryant also using it this year.

Chewning, who has taught at Hermitage High School for 22 years and in its humanities center since 2010, said she’s continued with the Prevention Project because of student engagement.

“The kids are very engaged, and they feel a sense of ownership,” she said. “And there's nothing more personal to kids these age than something that could be a threat to them, or their friends, or family members, and giving them the tools and the knowledge to hopefully protect themselves and people they love.”

Many students presented at a showcase during two class periods on March 2, which included panel discussions and visual artwork. About 130 students attended the event, Chewning said. Some of Chewning’s students also have given presentations at other middle and high schools.

Chewning has seen many students remain involved with the issue beyond high school, she said. Scott remembers seeing seniors present their projects during her freshman year and said she looked forward to the Prevention Project despite not knowing a lot about human trafficking.

One of the aspects Scott has enjoyed the most is the flexibility students have been allowed to have with their projects. They were encouraged to think about what would have the greatest effect on their community, she said.

“I think it's beautiful, just seeing the kind of creativity that people can make out of such a harmful topic and then spread awareness at the same time,” she said.

Despite concerns about the heaviness of the topic, Scott said she thinks it’s still important for high-schoolers to learn about sex trafficking because it affects them, just like sex education. The biggest takeaway she’s had is realizing that young people such as herself can make an impact on human trafficking, she said.

“By educating, by spreading awareness and by making art like so my friends are doing, I think that you're making a huge difference because you're spreading awareness about a topic that is kind of considered taboo today,” Scott said. “And I think it's really important to try to change that stigma, and maybe educate those who are unaware.”