Advocacy Day

On Friday, January 29, Pleasant View School hosted its first Advocacy Workshop virtually. Middle School and high school students attended virtual meetings via Zoom to learn about the different advocacy groups at PVS and their work. A total of 50 students participated in the meetings as group student leaders prepared informative presentations and activities to educate the attendees. The workshop consisted of two 30 minute zoom sessions, with students able to attend one advocacy group presentation per session. Advocacy groups are a great opportunity for students to learn about the issues within the community and work to solve these issues. Currently there are 6 advocacy groups at PVS: Green Memphis, Food Deserts, Criminal Justice, Immigration, Education, and Art for Activism. Each group has its own specific focus and is led by a group of students interested in the cause. After the sessions, several students inquired about joining an advocacy group, which you can join by contacting Ms. Jennifer or a student leader.

Green Memphis:

Green Memphis Advocacy Group focuses on helping the environment around PVS and throughout Memphis. Emir Celicok and Ali Sultan-Ali led the Green Memphis Session. Their presentation focused on spreading awareness for recycling and educating PVS students on how to recycle. Students played a jeopardy game at the end of the session to test how much they learned from the presentation. The students were very engaged and the results of the jeopardy demonstrated their interest. Many students decided to join the advocacy group after the presentation. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Jana Elabiad at janaelabiad@pv.school with your name and grade.

Criminal Justice Reform:

Zahra Chowdoury, Zaheen Chowdoury, and Mohammad Taysir presented for Criminal Justice Reform. They focused on educating the students of aspects of the Criminal Justice System that need reform and steps that the Criminal Justice Advocacy group has taken and will take. The Criminal Justice Reform group is a great segue and opportunity for all students looking to explore the field of law. PVS students can learn about the many interesting aspects of Law and Criminal Justice. If you are interested in joining this advocacy group, please email zahrachowdhury@pv.school with your name and grade.

Education

Wissal Boudaoud and Deenat Yusuf led the presentation for the Education Group. The Education Advocacy group has two main focuses: literacy and tutoring. For literacy awareness, they are establishing a reading program for the younger students. There’s a mentoring program for students who need extra tutoring. As for the reading, they are establishing a reading program for the younger students. The purpose is to promote reading and improve literacy. The workshop explained why a high literacy level is important in terms of career and life and how reading helps to improve literacy and how we can promote reading with younger children. If you are interested in joining this advocacy group, please email wissalboudaoud@pv.school with your name and grade.

Immigration,

Naisha Chowdhury, Ibrahim Khalil, and Manal Shala led the presentation for the Immigration group. The Immigration Advocacy group presented today's pressing immigration issues and policies and informed students on some of the terrible conditions immigrants experience in the detention centers they're held at. Also many misconceptions about immigration and immigrants that create misinformation were tackled. The advocacy group started a general petition to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable to protect those in detention centers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is seeking to reach its goal of 2500 signatures. Sign it: The Petition If you are interested in joining this advocacy group, please email naishachowdhury@pv.school with your name and grade.

Art for Advocacy

Art for Advocacy teaches creatives to use their skills in order to create change in Memphis. On Friday, Zainab Malik introduced the group and explained the political and social change that art can bring. If you are interested in joining this advocacy group, please email zainabmalik@pv.school with your name and grade.