Students Teach Each Other Through Organization

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- When Wilson High School teacher Julie Caccamise tackles World History for freshmen this year, she'll use additional curriculum authored by teenagers.

"There's one unit about a young muslim girl in the area and she writes about her experience," she said. "I'm actually teaching Islamic civilization right now. So I'll be able to use that as a tool to connect past and present."

The material she's using is published on a website called One World Education. The non-profit organization was founded by a former teacher at Seeds Public Charter School in SE. Eric Goldstein realized that the typical textbook wasn't reaching students completely.

"I started to ask these students: 'Why don't I empower you to write about what it is you care about,'" he said. "'Whether it be local issues in your community your ethnic origins or other places where you've traveled.' I told them to start writing about it so I can use that as a source for teaching other students."

So they did and immediately Goldstein noticed an impact.

"Students were excited about their writing because they were writing about themselves," he said. "They were writing about their experiences, their ideas, their feelings and concerns It wasn't an academic paper."

When he used the material as supplemental to his textbooks, he saw students sit up and take notice.

"Because they're reading something they consider very valuable, informative and meaningful," he said. "Then they realize this isn't written by an adult. It's written by a student the same age as them. And the students start thinking: 'What do I know about, what do I care about...what am I passionate for?'"

Those passions are now all over the foundation's website, where students from other schools are now participating. Some write about physical disabilities. Some write about their travels. Others write about their ethnicity. Any topic is on the table for consideration.

"With One World, you're seeing young students being engaged not only in the learning process but also in their own lives," said Caccamise. "They're recognizing that what they do is important and telling someone about what they've done and why they've done it is important. So they're reading and writing. They're communicating, dialoguing and debating and sometimes that can get lost in the textbook."

Last April Goldstein held an essay contest where 150 students from across the region applied. The winners were featured at an event. Josh Weiner, now a senior in high school, couldn't believe his eyes.

"There was a whole binder filled with copies of my stories," he said. "They were passing them out and I could see people right in front of me going 'Oh this is really cool.'"

By now, Goldstein has quit his job teaching and taken up the organization as a full time job. He has 9 volunteer teachers who piloted the curriculum last year and will continue to use the material this year. He hopes to eventually get the DC Public School System to adopt the model.

"Last year was one without salary," he said. "So it was a major compromise in my life because I believe in the potential and the impact of this program."