Debates, mock cases and readings were just a small part of the sample Justice in Action lesson held in the MLK room on Monday, March 23. The sample lesson was held for prospective students for the course and curious Brookline residents and parents. It was held to support the Brookline Innovation Fund, a nonprofit which allows students to participate in interdisciplinary electives and teachers to design creative curriculums. Justice in Action students are taught by both English teacher Rob Primmer and social studies teacher Marcie Miller.
The Justice in Action course replaced last year’s Legal Studies course, extending the class into two blocks instead of one. Available to seniors, the class explores criminal justice and civil law, then brings the studies into an experiential, hands-on approach through mock trials, internships and contemporary issues in policing.
Miller, who presented the sample lesson, said that having a double block Justice in Action class allows her students to go out into the real world and explore the system they’ve been learning about for themselves. She said that the ultimate goal is to give students more experience in practical settings, particularly with observation hours during the third quarter.
“[One of the projects is to] research a neighborhood in Boston, where [the students] find images of the neighborhood and then look at the [same places in] 1989,” Miller said. “They also had to incorporate an oral interview with someone that lived in the neighborhood in 1989 and someone who currently lives in the neighborhood.”
Ben Stern, who is on the Board of Directors of the Brookline Innovation Fund, said that Justice in Action was one of the educational programs the organization funded this year. He said the Innovation Fund wanted to have a presentation and sample lesson to introduce people to the program, and hopes they will consider it as a career pathway.
“I like the hands-on piece of going to shadow judges or lawyers or correction officers and going out in the community and actually seeing these things rather than just reading them,” Stern said.
Stacey Zelbow, a staff member at the Innovation Fund, said the course helps the community create responsible citizens. According to Zelbow, classes like this support students with strong aspirations and a sense of justice in legal settings, allowing them to explore these interests at the high school level.
“I don’t know of another high school who [has] a program like this. It’s a very important opportunity for people to learn about different career paths,” Zelbow said.
Miller was described by other attendees as an ambitious and passionate teacher in the course. She said she is the person in a conversation that presents other sides of an argument to the students, asking if they considered a different perspective.
“I’m not telling kids what’s right and what’s wrong. I’m not telling kids this should be the sentence for this person or this is what the judges should have the right to do,” Miller said. “I never tell kids what to think. To me, it’s really important that they walk away thinking ‘What can make the [criminal justice] system better?’”
