Chapter 9: Ninth-Grade Student Voices in a Social Action Project: “They Went for Us, They Cared”

In the spring of 2006, a class of ninth graders worked with facilitators of a community-based organization to plan and run a safe-sex health fair in their urban high school, The Leadership Academy.¹ The social action project was based around the students’ questions and concerns, and the youth had the opportunity to feel that their voices mattered. I explore this form of student involvement with the aim of providing a vision for how teachers can share authority with their students and create relevant learning opportunities. The chapter begins with a broad discussion of student voice in curriculum and the merit of social action projects. I then detail various curricular events and student responses to the social action project in The Leadership Academy, concluding with recommendations for educators.