Shaw High School Leadership Academy
"I knew I loved history and was very eager to learn more. I also knew I wanted to help people in some way. One thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want another child to have to go through the mental and physical abuse I went through as a victim of bullying. It was in those Facing History classes when I started the process of finding my voice and gaining the courage to stand up and make a difference.”
- Alana, F., student, Shaw High School
Shaw Leadership Academy is one of four small schools housed in Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Ohio. It states its vision as “changing the lives of young people and giving them hope for the future.” Shaw has been working with Facing History for several years and the majority of teachers have been introduced to Facing History’s resources and pedagogy.
Facing History core themes, including identity and membership, aspects of human behavior, and choosing to participate, are infused throughout the school. Within the humanities curriculum, Facing History resources have been incorporated into all four grade levels. The core Facing History resource Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior chronicles the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and it enables students to explore the fragility of democracy, the creation of scapegoats and “national enemies,” and the role of bystanders in society while placing an emphasis on the individual choices that citizens made. Readings from Race and Membership in American History: the Eugenics Movement help students look at the history of the eugenics movement and how notions of inclusion and exclusion have affected the thinking, behavior, and policies of Americans since the founding of the nation. Students watch video resources including, “The Bad Samaritan”, which chronicles one high school student who stands by and says nothing while he watches a friend assault a 7 year old boy. The video sparks deep discussion and provides a foundation to discuss bystander behavior.
A group of Facing History students at Shaw, inspired by their experience in the classroom with Facing History themes, formed a Student Leadership Group in 2006. Their work has helped to further deepen and broaden students’ exposure to Facing History at Shaw. They invite Facing History speakers to their school to share their stories of survival, resilience, and standing up in the face of injustice. Past speakers have included Max Edelman, a Holocaust survivor, Albie Sachs, South African Constitutional Court Justice, Carl Wilkens, the only American to stay in Rwanda after the genocide began, and Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine. Once the speakers have shared their stories, the student leaders facilitate sessions on themes such as identity and membership and other core Facing History themes addressed by the speaker. In addition to broadening the impact of Facing History within Shaw, these students have also developed an innovative project to introduce younger students in elementary school to concepts of upstanders, bystanders, victims and perpetrators and to mentor them to be upstanders, instead of bystanders when faced with bullying and intolerance.
This student group itself was nominated as upstanders for the “Choosing to Participate” exhibit in Cleveland in 2009 and the video of their work in elementary schools is available on the Not In Our Town website. Most of Shaw High School students attended the “Choosing to Participate” exhibit which highlights four stories from American history of individuals and communities whose stories illustrate the courage, initiative and compassion needed to protect democracy and human rights.
By inspiring students to think critically about the repercussions of individual choice and to take action to teach younger students the skills to stand up to bullying, Shaw Leadership Academy is modeling how one school can use Facing History resources and themes to prepare students to be active and engaged citizens. One student, who used to be the class bully says, “I faced history one day and found myself”. After taking Facing History classes, he gave up his attitude of indifference and now strives to take a stand against injustice, even winning a regional poetry contest for his poem, “Perception” about how prejudice influences our decisions to help others.
While a high-poverty school, Shaw is performing better than the district average on state testing. The Facing History relationship seems to be helping Shaw teachers and students achieve the school’s vision to change the lives of young people and give them hope for the future. Facing History continues to work towards impacting school climate at the Leadership Academy and growing its impact district-wide.
School Demographics
Shaw Leadership Academy has about 420 students. The school population is about 99.2% Black and about 83% of the students are economically disadvantaged.
Through the generosity of the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust, Facing History and Ourselves has developed a nationwide small school network. As part of this network, these schools share best practices, develop professional ties with their peers, and receive ongoing support from Facing History. Shaw High School Leadership Academy is a participating member of this network.
For more information about Facing History and the Small School Network, please visit: www.facinghistory.org/smallschools
