Montreal Students Get "Down to Earth"

Generally, people don’t engage in the topic of the environment on an emotional level. Students at Lester B. Pearson High School in Montreal, however, are taking the scientific topic and writing poems, essays and plays and creating art to inspire change in people’s emotions, and hopefully actions toward our environment.

This new project, created by Michael Ernest Sweet, an English teacher and writer, stems from the non-profit educational organization Learning for a Cause (www.LearningforaCause.org). Sweet founded this organization when he started teaching in 2003.

At the start of his new job, Sweet realized that students were working diligently and spending time to write stories, poems, plays and essays for the recycling bin. He says the whole purpose behind genuine writing is to publish and have an authentic audience. He has already inspired the publication of two books written by his previous students—Per Sompre and If: The Anthology, both available from Barnes and Noble.

Writing and publishing are becoming more accessible to students, who can now voice their opinions, thanks to self-publishing technology. This is changing the way creative writing is approached in high schools. Sweet says his students are becoming more engaged citizens through voicing their opinions.

The Quebec Ministry of Education is filming a documentary about the project this year. The documentary will be used to train teachers how to apply the teaching model in their own classrooms.

The year’s book, Down to Earth, as the title suggests, entails getting realistic about the present condition of the environment. Through their writing, students are urging people to look at social issues differently. Their ultimate goal is to open people’s eyes to the social justice problems and make people see such issues more intimately.

One half of the book is dedicated to environmental warnings, urging people to act now before they self-destruct. Meanwhile, the other half inspires a renewed awe in nature because students are concerned that people are becoming overly disconnected from the natural world.

Sweet is proud to have Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space, and Justin Trudeau, the son of a legendary Canadian prime minister, write introductions to the anthology.

Sweet says, “Having community leaders write introductions reinforces the message students are trying to spread—that people have to wake up and protect their environment. When students get the support and mentorship from such influential figures in society, they feel as though someone real and important, other than their teacher, is putting a stamp on their work. This, in turn, allows students to get more serious about their writing.”

Recently, a press release was issued about the Learning for a Cause organization. A student named Anthony Perrozzi was quoted saying, “It’s easy to write when you have a purpose. I like to know that other people are reading my work and it’s not just going onto the teacher’s desk.”

Sweet says that this year’s project is particularly interesting because students are appealing to the emotions of their readers and getting people to protect and invest in the environment. Student Michael Langella, for example, has written a poem on polar bears. Langella writes, “Thick and creamy his fur glows in the cold arctic breeze. His dark black nose sprinkled with shimmering snowflakes... we called him polar bear.”

All of Sweet’s students, totaling about 100, get to contribute to the anthology. Sweet says his students will keep writing and revising until they write something of publishable quality. He says that writing well takes time and that teachers don’t often give students enough time to write in school. Instead, students are expected to submit assignments promptly because many teachers are caught up with quantity. Sweet explains, “Giving students the time to think, write, edit and think more ensures that every student is able to write something successful. Time is how you get good writing.”

Sweet speaks passionately about how what happens inside a classroom should not be relevant only inside the school. Instead, he says that the classroom walls need to be taken down completely in order for schooling to connect with the community. He believes that living and learning need to connect in order for students to realize that what they’re learning and seeing in school is relevant to the real world. He says that making a big change starts with education, “If we’re going to make a better world, we’re going to have to start in classrooms.”

Another goal of this year’s project is to share the book with people who have the power to make large-scale change. A portion of the funds generated from sales of Down to Earth will be used to distribute complimentary copies of the book to 25 of the world’s most influential people to try and help persuade leaders to make a difference. Among the list are the prime ministers of the G8 countries.

Profits from the book will also be placed back into community initiatives. Sweet says that trees will be planted on the school grounds because trees are essential air filters that are probably the single most important natural thing that will help us save the environment.

The book is still in the early phases of being written. However, Sweet’s goal is to submit the final manuscript sometime in mid-March. He hopes the book will offer a different look at the environment. Further, he hopes that people will be affected emotionally by the poignant literature and begin a personal journey of change. Down to Earth is planned to be released in the month of May and will be available in Montreal at Paragraphe Books and on the Internet at all fine booksellers.