Last week, Susan B. Anthony Middle School’s eighth-grade civics teacher, Alexandra Butler, had an idea for her students.
Wanting to try something new, Butler decided to take her class of mostly newcomers on a tour of City Hall and expose them to their local government.
“This is the first time I've tried this field trip,” said Butler. “Each year my goal is to expose my students to different hands-on experiences in order for them to see our civics curriculum in the real world and to make meaningful connections.”
Butler explained that the SBA’s newcomer students are piloting a new civics curriculum and are currently learning about local government... the different departments, leaders, and responsibilities of city government, as well as the services they provide.
“I thought it would be really cool for us to visit city hall,” she said.
With help from the City of Revere’s Data Analyst Yvonne Vu, Butler’s class toured each city department from the Mayor’s Office to the Accessors Office. With multiple languages spoken in Butler’s class, like Spanish and Haitian Creole, Butler said her students really appreciated being able to ask questions in their native languages.
“Yvonne has been extremely helpful in helping me do so and organizing these events,” said Butler. “There are three different languages spoken in the class, so it was really helpful that Yvonne worked with the city’s DEI Department to coordinate translators for each language so that all students could access the information presented during the tour.”
In the end, Butler and her students thought the tour was awesome.
“They also really enjoyed being able to see inside of city hall, a building that many of them have walked or driven past but have never been inside,” said Butler. “I think this field trip is important because it allows students to form a connection with the leaders within their local government. My hope is that they start to establish these connections now, so that it is easier for them to be civically engaged in their community.
See more photos here.