Project Overview

This project is the culmination of a one-semester AP US Government and Politics class, consisting of seventeen seniors at MELS. Earlier in the year government students investigated fake news in order to develop critical reading skills to assess credibility and reliability of sources. For this project, students then built on these skills to formulate their opinions on current political events: the op-eds featured on the website. The process was student-centered, with students taking charge of the vision and the execution of this "open-floor office" space.

The editors-in-chief managed the overarching narrative, the web designers constructed the website, the copy editors met with staff writers. Peer revision based on rubrics that students themselves designed helped to push drafts from first to final. The project provided a satisfying finality to the end of the year, the end of high school, and the beginning of their lives as active political agents. 

MELS is a public school in District 28 of Queens, NY, one of the most diverse districts in NYC. Please view the website here.