Linda Keteyian

Keteyian's program, "Our World, Our Responsibility," integrates various areas of the school's curriculum into an environmental study of the community. The project encourages students to study the history of Southwest Detroit and learn about the effects of industrialization on the environment and local neighborhoods. Students are divided into groups to work on projects illustrating various problems facing the community, and to identify ways those problems could be solved. Through photos, personal stories, poems, essays and a student-produced puppet show, the students learn about the direct connections between the conditions that surround them and their responsibilities as citizens to act as stewards of the environment. The program is designed to help students consider a problem from beginning to end, and to learn to view a situation from a variety of angles and perspectives. Skills in writing, math and science are used to complete various parts of the project and students learn to express their own ideas as they develop a greater understanding of their community.