We the People and social studies teacher Kelley Brown (left) takes the lead on a group selfie with guest author Jeffrey Rosen joining via zoom.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton High School’s We the People team continues to be a rising tide for its community as a new cross-generational book group started by the class has made students partner with community members of all ages.
The collaborative effort culminated on June 4 when the book group gathered inside the Easthampton High School library for an exclusive Zoom interview with Jeffrey Rosen, the author of the group’s assigned reading “The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America.”
We the People is a curriculum and program that is offered by the Massachusetts Center for Civic Education, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes civic education in public and private schools and communities.
The book group began meeting earlier this spring and features 20 students from the We the People team and 20 adults from the community. We the People and social studies teacher Kelley Brown explained the group was born to Rosen to kick off the discussion.
“Part of the We the People program involves really cross generational conversations, so my students are often meeting with adults and talking about kind of inquiry questions around the Constitution, its part of the process. For me, I think of the things I find really powerful about your [Rosen] book is the focus on how virtue can be a common ground for folks to talk about,” Brown explained. “My inspiration for doing this is feeling like we need to continue to build social capital, we need to continue to build community, and one way we that we can do that is by centering our conversations on something that is so universal a 5 year old can understand it, a 90 year old can understand it, and everybody can bring a different insight into what those virtues are.”
The meeting saw Rosen introduce himself to the book group and discuss his work before taking a handful of questions from both students and adults on his book. Rosen spoke to students about his work as well as the importance of daily deep reading.
“What you are engaged in in this intergenerational book group is the founders hopes for the pursuit of happiness. And it’s so exciting to do it intergenerationally,” Rosen said. “Reading and lifelong learning is different when you’re young than when you’re older. When you’re younger, you read for school, and because your teachers prescribe stuff and you’re encountering it for the first time. When you read as an adult, it becomes such a gift just to learn and grow every day, to learn for its own sake. It keeps you young, and it’s become increasingly urgent, I’ve found, to just read for its own sake.”
Rosen is an American legal scholar who serves as the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where he hosts a weekly podcast of constitutional debate fittingly titled, “We the People.” Rosen’s new book offers an examination of what “the pursuit of happiness” meant to our nation’s founders and how that famous phrase defined their lives and became the foundation of American democracy.
Rosen’s other books include the New York Times bestseller “Conversations with RGB: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty and Law,” as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. His work is available online and in book stores.
Following the meeting and book discussion with Rosen, members of the book group talked with Reminder Publishing about the experience and the benefits of coming together cross-generationally.
Many of the adults shared that initially, they were anxious to be interacting with the students from the We the People program, feeling like they would be outsmarted by such a hardworking and passionate group of young minds. Quickly, they realized the kids were very much looking forward to their opinions and learning together.
“I was apprehensive when I started. I thought these kids are going to know much more than I do because it’s been a long time since I’ve been in school or read anything like this,” said resident Kathy Korza. “But I really enjoyed it, and I’ve enjoyed the interaction with the students in my group. We bounce things off each other and that was really nice.”
Sharon Lapoint, a retired Easthampton High School social studies teacher, shared this experience was a great example of how learning opportunities have changed and expanded in schools over the years, and why civic education is crucial for students.
“We missed opportunities that weren’t allowed to fit into the curriculum [when I was teaching], so every time we wanted to take a chance it was kind of like, ‘we don’t have time for that. Time on learning, blah blah blah,’” said Lapoint. “It was very, very difficult in a lot of ways to break some of the walls that had been set up. We should be teaching civic education. In so many cases, kids get through high school without a drop of it, and I think that’s a sad commentary.”
Another resident added, “It’s been such a growth opportunity for me, and I’ve learned so much form the young people, the book, and sharing ideas and finding things in common.”
All residents who spoke were appreciative of the opportunity with the We the People program and thanked Brown and students for the experience.
Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many saying they appreciated the opportunity to be in this setting with community members and learn different perspectives through the group readings.
“Being able to focus on what we have in common instead of our differences, this is one of those great examples, especially cross-generationally where we’re coming together. Happiness is something we all pursue and have in common, and it’s really a beautiful thing that we can all look at and agree on — without focusing on all this stuff going on in the world — that may make us isolate ourselves instead of putting ourselves out there and trying to be a community,” said student Iyana Cooper-Baez. “I think this book really helped me see the perspective of people who have not only lived longer than I have, but have also seen things that I haven’t seen. And they also saw my perspective, so I think it really made our community more united.”
The connection of the book’s contents and real life was seamless, as many students came away with a newfound appreciation for community.
“We started reading this because we were told, but I think reading it was an idea that really got us to learn all about virtue and really discuss,” said student Seth Durant. “This cross-generational book group, I think, really provides something you don’t see very often. It allows us to talk about what we’ve read and do something impactful in our community.”
Community support has also been key for students through the We the People program and now as they continue their learning and education journey at Easthampton High School and the community beyond.
“I just remember walking in the Memorial Day Parade, or the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade, there were so many people saying, ‘yeah! We the People!’ and that they recognize it and support us,” said student Anthony Incampo.
Another student, Oliver Oparowski, reflected on this years’ experience with the We the People program and how it culminated with this book group amongst the community to end the year.
“Throughout the We the People course, we both learn about this idea of valuing your community as much if not more than yourself. We learn about that in theory with government, but also in practice in the sense that all the community support was the biggest motivator. The local support we’ve had, that’s a real motivator to work hard. You don’t want to fall flat having the whole town behind you. And I think this book group was a really great example of having conversations with your community and you can see the values that you share and the people around you which builds a really strong united community, and I think that’s really the dream of democracy,” said Oparowski.
In closing of the gathering Brown expressed much gratitude to her students and the adults involved for taking part in a new book group that seemingly has the legs to be a mainstay for the We the People teams and Easthampton community of the future.
“I’m incredibly proud of you, not only for what you outwardly put but your ability to listen. I do think silence is a really important thing. We the People, we put you out a lot, and to me this came full circle by giving you the opportunity to also listen and remember that we have so much to learn from everyone, and to take a pause and actually listen to each other,” Brown said. “It fills my heart. I love this community. I’ve been here for 25 years because I love this community, and if I can do one little piece to help strengthen this community, that makes me feel eudaimonia. My work into this is brining me happiness and I hope you all can take something from this in that same way.”
