Change for the Better

News flash!

Big changes are being made at QPA!

And it’s all because of your voice, your choice!

Democracy is a system of government in which the population gives representatives power through election. However, a majority of the American population wrongly believes that the only way they can make a difference, or change is in the congressional, state, and local elections. They think their involvement in building their community only resides in voting for the best representative. However, there are multiple other ways you can make or initiate a change in our community, such as participating in budgeting.

Participatory budgeting is a system of budgeting in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. This practice differs from traditional budgeting in the fact that traditional budgeting is managed by the mayor and city council, while in Participatory budgeting, the regular citizens get to decide. This type of budgeting is important because it directly involves the residents of the area in question. It engages the community members by pushing them to study the community’s needs and make choices that involve opportunity cost while exercising the rights granted by the Bill of Rights.

Participation in Government & Civics at QPA  

Like every other high school in New York City, Queens Preparatory Academy has a Participation in Government & Civics class in its curriculum. The objective of this class is to educate students about their rights and responsibilities as American citizens. However, presently, only seniors have access to this important course. Ms. Mahalia Mehu, who teaches the course along with Ms. Stacy Henry, said “Students should have access to this type of education earlier in their academic life.” She believes that in our current political climate, “students need to be aware of the change they can make in society.” Principal Gumbs agrees, and hopefully, going forward, we may see some changes in how and when the course is taught. However, for now, let’s talk about some projects Ms. Mehu, Ms. Henry, and their students have been developing in this class.

Student Voice, Student Choice

The Participation in Government community has been very innovative in QPA, proposing new projects they believe can improve students’ experience at school. In September 2024, they directed two significant projects: the Early Graduation program, a system that allows qualified students to graduate before their normal term, and the Participatory Budgeting plan, a project in which the students of each of the three classes have to come up with the best way to spend $2000.

On Friday, February 14, during the school’s community gathering, Ms. Mehu introduced the entire school to the practice of voting. This is new to QPA, but everyone was excited to have it as a part of the event. “We’ve never had anything like this,” said Principal Gumbs, “Not last year, nor this year.”

Before we voted, we watched a part of the movie Selma, which is about the civil rights movement and educated us about the origin of our right to vote, and the importance of using this right. Then, helped by some students on stage, we were given guidelines about how to proceed. According to Ms. Mehu, “The aim of the project is to get you aware of what’s going on within your community, and give you a voice to influence what goes on in your community.” The result of this election is the launch of several new programs created by QPA students.

For each project, the classes worked hand in hand with their classmates, the administration, and the QPA population, since the aim of these initiatives is to improve their academic life. Ms. Mehu and Ms. Henry have directed three projects so far: a school store, club funding, and a school fair.

The School Store

This initiative was proposed by Ms. Henry’s class. The aim of this project is to bring back a store we had last year that was discounted. Fazil Mohammed, the head of the project, said that a lot of kids don’t really like the school lunch, and the store could provide them with more options that they might be willing to line up for. “We plan to have a store with basically different snacks and drinks students really like,” he said.

Club Funding

The club funding program is the idea of Najyah David, a member of several clubs in QPA. The club funding is an initiative that aims to help develop the school community. “For my project on club funding, I worked with a $2,000 budget to support student organizations,” said Najyah. “I explored how to distribute the money fairly, prioritizing clubs based on their needs, impact, and fundraising efforts.”

Some clubs got funds for events, supplies, or trips. The project showed how important it is to balance resources and make sure every club has a chance to grow.

The School Fair

Last but not least, this project was the idea of Ruth Shama Athis. It is a sort of recreational event where students can participate in various games and win significant prizes. This project also promotes mental health and teamwork, since some of the activities require students to work in a team, and there will be an entire spot designed to accentuate the importance of mental health.

“The school fair was a project I came up with to support my peers by giving them a moment of relaxation,” said Ruth. The process is still in the premature phase, but we have words from reliable sources that there may be a plan for a future merge with the students’ government club on this one.

Overall, these projects prove that your voice is heard in QPA, and just like that, your voice is heard in America, so never forget you have the power and never fail to use it because if you don’t choose for yourself, you will always have to yield to others’ choices.