North Springs 9th Graders Learn About Human Trafficking

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — North Springs Charter High School’s Freshman Academy has joined forces with CNN’s Freedom Project and CNN's international #myfreedomday initiative to educate their classmates on the topic of human trafficking. These students will create a cross curriculum learning opportunity and meaningful service project for ninth-grade Spartans around a crisis that covers nearly every aspect of the globe.

Spartan parent Lisa Cohen and senior supervising producer for CNN International spearheads the Freedom Project and brought the idea to her son’s AP Human Geography teacher, Kelly Olson. Olson said they decided to do the project for all ninth-grade students rather than just one class. She was elated when she learned North Springs English teacher Christine Pekatos contacted her friend and fellow North Springs classmate, Laura Hackney, to speak to our students.

After graduating from University of California at Berkeley and working on Stanford’s Anti-trafficking Project in China, Hackney co-founded and now directs AnnieCannons, a California nonprofit that trains trafficking survivors in coding and software skills (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

"I had hoped we could Skype with her, but it turned out she was coming to Atlanta this week, and was very willing to share her knowledge and experience on this topic directly with our students," said Pekatos. "It was amazing.”

After being introduced to the topic and then hearing Hackney’s presentation on the myths and realities of human trafficking and her commitment to helping survivors learn high-tech skills to support themselves, the freshmen are being asked to consider what freedom means to them. Next they are formulating questions in their English classes to use in a socratic-style seminar in their social studies classes on #myfreedomday, which is set for Wednesday, March 14.

"Math and science classes are also incorporating research and statistics on modern day slavery in their courses so students can recognize that this is a multi-faceted global issue," said Assistant Principal Dr. Mulanta Wilkins, who directs North Springs Freshman Academy.

Additionally, students and parents are participating in a drive to collect personal care items for survivors of human trafficking that will be put in gift bags and distributed throughout metro Atlanta by local charity Street Grace. The Freshman Student Government is collecting items for the drive, which runs through March 14.

“We’ve been so inspired by our students’ interest we plan to make this a project next year and beyond,” said Olson. “We’ve laid the foundation; next year our students will take it even further."

Photo 1: North Springs' Freshman Academy students Kethely Da Silva, Hanna Quillen, and Kennedy Parker have nearly doubled their class goal of collecting over 100 toothbrushes for Street Grace, a local charity that provides personal care items to trafficking survivors as they gear up for #myfreedomday on March 14.

Photo 2: Christine Pekatos introduces guest speaker Laura Hackney to Freshmen Academy students. After graduating from NSCHS Hackney got her undergraduate degree at UC Berkely, attended Stanford University and worked as a researcher for Stanford's Anti-Trafficking Project before co-founding her own nonprofit aimed at helping trafficking survivors learn marketable high tech skills.

Photo 3: Former Spartan Laura Hackney, co-founder and Executive Director of California nonprofit AnnieCannons, Inc., which teaches coding and software skills to survivors of human trafficking with her friend and former North Springs' classmate, English teacher Christine Pekatos. Pekatos invited Hackney to speak to 9th graders as part of North Springs' Freshman Academy's focus on human trafficking and CNN's #myfreedomproject.

Images via North Springs Charter High School