Reflections on the Year at Dobbins

Our project at Dobbins this year was addressing the gun violence in Philadelphia. This is a topic our students chose as something that is important to them and impacts their lives daily. The students decided to create a documentary to highlight the roots of this problem. They began by creating an outline for the documentary, conducting some preliminary interviews, and reaching out to other community members and leaders for their input. While we were not able to complete the project this year, our students are all returning and committed to continuing this work during the next school year. I am excited to keep working with them, as well as recruit more students to join us! 

We did have some challenges this year – time available to work together probably being the biggest. We met as an after school club once a week, although we have discussed possibly meeting twice a week next year. It took a while for us to decide on what exactly our project would be, and momentum was interrupted at times due to Covid and other outside factors. 

The biggest thing I will take away from this year is how impressed I am with our students.  Their passion and thoughtfulness when discussing gun violence, as well as many other topics, has been inspiring. I am excited to continue this work!

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