In a press release in its newsroom, Apple singles out Mike Lang, a distinguished Apple educator who encourages his students to be public officials and activists in Las Vegas.
“My hope for all my students is that they see themselves and see themselves as citizens of the world responsible for helping others succeed,” Lang says. This month, Lang began a three-part project with his kindergarten and first grade students to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and instill in them a sense of civic duty. “That’s the ultimate goal: we want people who are knowledgeable, passionate, patriotic in the true sense of the word, and empathetic.”
The first step in his program is to have the children read “You Matter” by Christian Robinson to show them that everyone matters.
“Children must have a level of self-esteem to believe that their point of view matters, their story matters, their opinions matter, and their ideas matter,” he says. “It is important for students to understand that they have inherent power simply because they are themselves.”
Students in the program use the iPad to create stories about themselves, their family, and their neighborhoods. They will also learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and compare their lives with those of the civil rights leader. After these two steps, they will create a book that talks about the above two topics, as well as how they can be useful to their community and share it with community organizers and legislators in Las Vegas.
Lang hopes the project will help students understand that it is important to take care of themselves and those around them.
“Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of striving to be great, striving to do the right thing, and striving to be fair extends beyond race. It’s economics and empathy, and this idea of solidarity with all human beings, ”says Lang. «My hope is that my students realize that there is a basic humanity to which we must always be indebted, not only within their class, not only within their school, but within their community, their city, their country and the world.”
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