Milton Students Advocate for Social Justice at Fontbonne Academy

For the fifth straight year, seniors at displayed their capstone projects at the school’s Social Justice Fair on Thursday, March 5.

Each member of the class selected and researched a topic then performed direct service and created a presentation for the fair.

At Thursday’s event, most students compiled a poster board about their project. Younger students were given the chance to visit seniors in the cafeteria, lobby and library. Other students, primarily in groups of two or three, set up presentations in classrooms about their topics.

While advocating for social justice is a core of the theology curriculum at Fontbonne Academy, the range of causes were well displayed by the three members of the class of 2012 from Milton.

Milton resident Alyssa Melendez teamed up with Jummie Moses, of Hyde Park, and Edua Eboigbe, of Holbrook, for a presentation about genocide. The group gave three15-minute PowerPoint presentations during the Social Justice Fair.

Aside from extensive research, Melendez and her classmates reached out to the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program. They interacted with young refugees, who are placed in homes and provided various services, at a talent show.

“It was a really great thing to see,” said Melendez of the talent show.

The students met with refugees from Congo, El Salvador, China and South Sudan through the program.

Melendez explained that while the program operates out of Newton, the refugees are housed all over Massachusetts.

“Their work is kind of everywhere,” said Melendez, who like Moses and Eboigbe, is a member of Fontbonne Academy’s STAND organization. STAND is the student division of the Anti-Genocide Network.

Josephine Wong and Michaela Greaney, both of Milton, shared their projects using poster boards.

Wong, a player for the Ducks’ successful 2012 basketball squad, used her hardwood expertise in a project about teen depression and suicide.

While researching teen depression, Wong coached a sixth grade basketball team at Sacred Heart in Quincy, where she focused on encouraging the young players.

“By the end of the season I saw their confidence was much better,” Wong said.

Greaney used her Social Justice project to bring awareness to child abductions.

“Child abductions are a big problem in this country,” said Greaney, who selected the topic after seeing a child trafficking presentation last year.

She did extensive research, uncovering interesting facts and landmark abduction cases before gaining more information at the Hanover Police Department, where her uncle is a captain.

During her research Greaney said she was surprised to learn that most abductions are done by family members.

That fact and the rate of child abductions and murders were also surprising to students who viewed Greaney’s project in the cafeteria on Thursday.

“Most people are shocked,” said Greaney.