This fall students in Jennifer Derosby's class at P.S. 1. Charter School in Denver are looking at recent history to learn about civic responsibility. With Facing History resources and methodology as the lens, the students are considering what happened to a community in crisis—New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.In the unit called "Hurricane Katrina: Lessons, Connections and Hope," Derosby and her teaching partner Thomas Shields first had their students—6th, 7th and 8th graders—consider the individuals who make up a community.

Using the Facing History framework for this journey, they began to explore individual identity and questions such as how do we see ourselves? How do others see us? The students read "Little Things are Big" by Jesus Colon from Facing History's study guide Choosing to Participate. Colon, a Puerto Rican black man, is faced with a choice about whether or not to help a white woman one late night on a New York subway. His story explores the factors that made up his identity and influenced his decision—including race, gender, location and cultural background—as well as how he perceived the woman would react to him.The journey then moved to considerations of community. Derosby posed questions to her students: What is a healthy community? How do members of a community decide for whom they are responsible? For whom they are not? What factors influence these decisions? The students learned a new term, "Universe of Obligation" which was coined by Helen Fein to define the individuals and groups toward obligations are owed, to whom rule apply and whose injuries call for amends.The students were able to make connections to what they learned through Colon's reflection about his choice and how people go about defining their own "Universe of Obligation." Using the Facing History resource, Twilight Los Angeles, a study guide that accompanies Anna Deavere Smith's play about the Los Angeles 1992 riots, the students considered matters of race and how these issues can affect a community. They then made connections to the New Orleans community –both before and after Hurricane Katrina and the ways individuals, groups and the government responded to the crisis—and how race may or may not have been a factor. During the course of the semester, the class has also looked at the unique cultural contributions of New Orleans and read narratives of people who survived the hurricane. With help from Facing History staff working with schools in New Orleans, students will have the opportunity to have a pen pal exchange with students from New Orleans. The experience has helped Derosby's students think about their roles, rights and responsibilities as citizens and consider avenues for positive participation in society. She has been pleased with the results of the class so far. "A lot of the concepts are challenging for middle school students, but they're digging in, showing compassion and really trying to learn this story. Our school mission statement claims that we are a community of empowered, compassionate and contributing, informed and aware individuals. The lesson gave my students a way to grow toward this goal," she said.