A meeting of young minds Thursday included talk of global economic, environmental, health and security issues. This was not a convention of international dignitaries or politicans at the Capitol, though - this was "museum walk" day in the Simonsen 9th Grade Center gym.
Students at Simonsen enrolled in the Perspectives of Citizenship course took part in the event, which was the culmination of a five-week-long project that develops their research, technology and conversation skills.
Small groups of about four students had tables set up in the gym, and each group had a poster outlining facts and discussion about their chosen topic - all of which fell under the banner of "cultural conflicts." Some groups also had brochures, and others had iPads set up to display the websites they built for the project.
"I might be able to step in and explain what part of the problem is," student Olisa-Maka Anunoby said about his group's topic on the state of the oil industry in Nigeria, especially the next time someone complains about the price of gas. Brandon Guillen, Brenden Hoener and Angel Sanchez were also members of that group.
Simonsen Principal Ben Meldrum said students' projects are graded on website development and written components - the posters displayed and brochures handed out in the gym.
Even though they weren't graded on conversational skills, the students were expected to be able to not only present their topics to an audience but also engage with audience members.
"They need to know how to talk to people," not just at them, English teacher Amanda Moreland said.
These are the kinds of skills that will help students "in the business world and especially later in high school and in college," said Brian Knight, a technology applications teacher at Simonsen.
Meldrum said Perspectives of Citizenship is an integrated English course with civics and social studies components, and it is "team taught" by multiple instructors in the classroom.
This is the fourth year of the event, he said, but it's the first year there's been a school-wide presentation day in the gym, as opposed to a few presentations at a time in the library.
After the curriculum was re-written over the summer, staff decided to have all the student presentations together "so every kid's getting the same experience," he said.
"We've had a good turnout," Meldrum said. Parents and other community leaders were invited, as well.
He explained the goals of the "cultural conflicts" projects were to have students identify their topic's conflict, why it's important people be aware of it and what some potential solutions to the conflict might be.
Mariya Wilson said her group's topic of "SARS in Asia" made her scared but also more informed about infectious diseases - "there's a lot of diseases out there that have been killing people."
"I'm just a little bit more cautious - not more afraid, more cautious," fellow group member Khalil Gardner said.
The SARS presentation group also included Mallory Mendes and Parker Mitchell. SARS stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome - a viral disease that first appeared in Asia in early 2003.
Jose Velasquez, Sam Jakob and Abbie Dallmeyer's topic was unplanned pregnancy. Dallmeyer had not yet taken health class and said she feels more informed ahead of time now.
"It's a big thing for our whole school to know about this stuff," she said.
Autumn Cornell, Haley Gilpin, Shelby Gordon, Keon Hall and Sophie Robinson presented on infant mortality in Sierra Leone.
Robinson's takeaway from the project was she felt "we're really fortunate for what we have."
The country of Sierra Leone also figured into Hayden Bahr, Isaiah Briggs, Connor Farris and Bradley Holsman's group topic of blood diamonds, or conflict minerals - the illicit trade of precious minerals including gemstones from war zones wherein government and rebel groups often enslave civilians to mine the resources in order to fund war efforts and often commit horrible acts of violence against captives in the process.
"It can come back to us," Briggs said of the importance of the topic and a reason for people here to care, given the global nature of diamond markets.