Martinsville Teacher Helps Students Become Good Citizens
ann stultz, community, education, good citizens, martinsville teacher, project citizen,
There’s only one thing more important to Anne Stultz than making sure her students learn. That’s helping them become good citizens of their community.
Stultz‚ the eighth-grade gifted and talented coordinator at Martinsville Middle School‚ also coordinates Project Citizen‚ where students are divided into groups to undertake a community service project each year. They are charged with designing their own project that addresses something in the community that needs to be improved or changed.
“My goal is to get my students to become more involved in the com munity‚” she says. “I hope what we do plants a seed of the significance and importance of giving back to your community – one that continues into adulthood.”
Stultz‚ who has taught for more than two decades, says that her students quickly realize that even an eighth-grader can make a difference. Past projects have included raising more than $500 to establish a teen hotline‚ weeding and repainting rusty railings at the high school stadium‚ and helping repair a field for a new co-ed soccer team.
Students frequently interview community leaders and elected city and county officials to find out more about their proposed projects. If money is needed‚ they have to come up with a plan for raising it.
“Along the way they realize that these people are listening to them‚ and they’re making a difference‚” Stultz says. “Once‚ I suggested that some students should talk to the mayor. They said‚ ‘We can talk to the mayor?’ I said‚ ‘Of course you can.’ They’re just amazed they can do these things.”
Story by Nancy Humphrey
Photo by Brian McCord
