Democracy Project Teens in Circle, MT
McCone County Library in Circle, Montana is in its fourth year participating in the Democracy Project. Three dedicated students meet weekly to discuss civics and work on a project they care about.
Circle is the McCone County seat and has a population of 600. It is in a very remote part of the state. Most of the children who attend Circle Schools have done so for their entire school career and have shared experience and close relationships with their classmates and other members of the community.
In discussing this year’s project, the students were unanimous in their desire to build and donate a sandbox to the local elementary school, Bo Peep. “We had the sandbox for a short time in kindergarten, but then when they redid the playground in 2017 it went away. It was replaced with a box of rocks. We were all very sad,” said one Democracy Project teen.
“We liked the sandbox when we had it as kindergarteners. It helped fuel our imagination and we want to bring that back to the kids now.” said another student.
The group has worked with the school administration and the shop teacher to design an inground sandbox with a lid. These features solve the previous problems that led to the sandbox being removed. Construction should be completed by May with installation over the summer. The teens also plan to hold a voter registration drive in April.
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