Joyce Eighth Graders Asking Lots of Questions

What five questions would you ask George Washington, if you were to meet him live?

What changes would you make at your school?

Eighth graders at the in the have been brainstorming lists of questions, refining their queries and asking each other questions as part of a special class project.  Students are learning to interview an adult of their choice and then .

This year, in the project’s second year, Materazzo and Tropea have set some new project guidelines.

No parents as interview subjects.  No teachers, either.

“Too easy,” Tropea said last month as groups of two and three students practiced interviewing each other and writing a paragraph on why the interviewee would be a strong class president. The teachers wanted to get the students “out of their comfort zone,” Materazzo explained, and have them learn something from the interview.

This year, Materazzo and Tropea narrowed the pool of interview subjects, Tropea said, to four categories:  senior citizens, lifelong Woburn residents, veterans or someone with a “fascinating” job.

In a classroom practice interview, one pair of students, Allison West took the role of interviewer and Brittany Aston, the interviewee.

“Why would you be a strong class president?” West asked Aston.

“I listen to other’s ideas. I’m a natural leader. I like to help other people,” Aston responded.

West took notes.

As for changes students would make at the Joyce, members of the previous class shared some of the same ideas:  ease the dress code, improve lunch, reduce bullying and replace SSR—silent sustained reading. Some had more personal agendas:  more choice of foreign languages to study, more gym—and dismissal every day at noon.

Study hall would be a good idea, Aston elaborated to West, especially for students who participate in extracurricular activities and could use the time to work on school assignments.

After spending part of their class interviewing each other, students wrote between five and eight sentences on why the person they interviewed would make a strong class president. More than half a dozen students in one class read their “mini-profile” to their class. Materazzo read several aloud.

By this week, after they return to school after the holiday break, students must have interviewed their subject and bring their interview notes to class. They’ll be putting their final drafts together in January, Materazzo said. They’ll next work on writing, including developing a strong lead that draws readers in to their story.

To incorporate history into the project, students had to ask their subjects about a memorable historical event, Tropea told Woburn Patch. That might be a storm, war or natural disaster, he said.

Last year, students working on the project voted five student profiles the best.  profiled her dad, Lt. Col Tomas Tschuor.  featured teacher and cheering coach Ann Boudreau. wrote about a carpenter and personal taxi: her dad, David. composed “Not Your Average Mom,” about her mother, Michelle. And described Kathleen Lucero, who is active in the community.

. We’ll run the top features again this year.

Yes, George Washington really did visited Joyce students this year, in the person of Tropea. Last year students interviewed Tropea himself to help them learn about interviewing:  asking good questions and good follow-up questions.