At the beginning of the school year, the sixth grade at Saint Benedict Academy of Manchester, New Hampshire started their work in Public Achievement. The first step was a classwide issue convention, where they decided the issues that they were passionate about, and one group selected elderly loneliness.

The students immediately expressed enthusiasm. According to their coach, “they were excited about participating in something that was not the typical classroom work."

Students' meetings grew rich with the language of democracy and the application of civic skills. They discovered that democratic process is sometimes messy, but that if they stuck to their ideals, they were capable of affecting change in their community.

By December, their issue had transformed from elderly loneliness, to the stereotypes of the elderly, and to elderly stereotypes of pre-teens. Believing in their power to change these stereotypes, they began to participate actively in their meetings. They set their own agendas, infused ice breakers and team building sessions, and learned how to make phone calls, write letters, and conduct interviews with adults to get more information.

Presently, the students are still working on their project. One of their goals is to establish a dialogue with elderly residents living in a local housing complex. Meanwhile, they have learned to demonstrate genuinely the meaning of citizenship.