Classroom Lessons Aid Community

Low voter turnouts such as Tuesday’s have become too commonplace to provoke much reaction.

Maybe a resigned shrug of dismay, like after another Seahawks loss.

Some see the predictable voter boycott as a show of apathy, some as willful hostility against the whole American political structure. Whatever it is, it’s a far cry from the idealism of the ‘60s.

Ask not what your government will do to you; ask rather what you can do to your government first. That’s how John Kennedy’s words would be twisted today.

For all their excesses, those fabled ‘60s inspired a generation to believe in its own political empowerment, not merely as a right but as a duty. They had this odd notion that they could and should make a difference, not necessarily on those rare days when the polls were open but all year long, through their direct involvement. They would, by golly, change the world.

They had things to propose, things to demand, things to fight a sustained battle over. They didn’t win every one, thank goodness, but it never occurred to them that that was any reason to quit.

Who wants to change the world today? Who really believes in the individual’s ability to make an impact on social conditions?

John Hagney does. He believes in it, and he teaches it.

For 20 years, Hagney taught current world affairs, a required course for high school students. He taught it well enough by the system’s standards. His students at Lewis and Clark High School understood the issues, scored well on their tests.

But something was missing, something the teens themselves called to his attention over the years.

“Many left class having a higher level awareness about these things but their level of frustration was higher, in some cases (they were) even depressed. They were leaving saying, `Fine, we know about these problems, but what can we do about it?”’ To someone like Hagney, reared in the activist ‘60s, the question nagged him. He challenged himself to show them they could make a difference.

Turbulence and all, the ‘60s left a mark on Hagney.

“What it did show,” he believes, “was that a group of people who are truly committed can have some effect on policy or at least open the doors of government.”

Why shouldn’t the young people of the ‘90s be learning that same lesson?

Thus was born the Practicum in Community Involvement in which his class of mostly honors seniors combine academic research with community experience as volunteers in various non-profit organizations around Spokane.

Hagney prefers the term “interns” to “volunteers,” because the youngsters’ engagement is deep and lasting, both for them and the organizations they work with. Eastern Washington University finds the program substantive enough that EWU gives college credit for it. That’s not the most significant measure of Hagney’s approach, however. Citizenship isn’t the sole province of the college-bound. The sense of connectedness to the community, of having something valuable to contribute and being appreciated for it, is an experience that every youngster should have.

And although his classes are skewed toward high-achievers who’ve logged an abundance of scholastic success by the time they walk into his class, Hagney is convinced that his approach also benefits students at risk.

One girl with a learning disability took the practicum and wound up tutoring adults at the Adult Literacy Center - “one of the best interns the Adult Literacy Center ever received” - and earned a solid A for her work.

And, of course, there’s the benefit to society as a whole when a youngster comes out of school with both the desire and the confidence to have a positive impact on the community.

“I can’t help but believe that when you have kids who come into your class and they believe they can’t make a difference, and they’re cynical, (but) when they leave and they know damn well they can make a difference, that that hasn’t transformed something.”

That, says Hagney, is at the heart of good learning.

When Hagney went camping as a child, his family had two rules: Have fun and always leave the campground in better condition than it was in when they arrived.

“That’s kind of what life should be all about,” he says. “You should leave the campground, you should leave life a little better than you found it. I’m not saying change the world but if everybody did that we wouldn’t have some of the problems we have.”