Hialeah Miami Lakes High’s Project Citizen team was crowned state champions for 2018 during the We the People competition in Tallahassee, Florida, and is headed to the national championship on the West Coast.
The team worked cooperatively to identify a public policy problem in the students’ community, researched it and evaluated alternative solutions in the form of a public policy.
The students subject was on the rise of HIV/AIDS in Florida. According to the students, Miami-Dade County ranks No. 1 in the nation with new HIV infection rates followed by Broward County.
Though the issue was controversial, the students felt compelled to address the issue, especially wondering that their age group (from 13 to early adulthood) make up the group of the highest rate of new infections.
“As a result of this fact, along with months of research regarding policy solutions aimed at HIV’s prevalence, the students decided an Inclusive Health Education course was the policy they would pursue,” said HML’s Legal Studies teacher Rukayat Adebisi. “The class would cover issues ranging from mental and emotional health to the transmission of STIs and the use of contraceptives. This solution stemmed from Florida’s lack of standard sexual education courses throughout the state and the strictly abstinence-based education guidelines.”
Then, the students created an action plan to enlist local and state lawmakers to adopt their proposed policy by presenting their project during a public hearing showcase before a panel of civic-minded community members.
The project also included a high school mock trial competition.
The Trojans are now headed for the national competition in Los Angeles, California.