Rapping and Cartoons Bring MRH Active Citizen Project to Life

The eighth grade students at are writing songs and making videos about government that makes School House Rock look like Sesame Street.

As part of social studies teacher Alex Pepin's Active Citizen project, each student demonstrated their knowledge of government through artistic expression, including songs, videos, cartoons, news articles and commercials. 

"It's taking the 'boring' stuff and making it a little more engaging and fun and having them put their own thoughts and ideas and their own life behind it," Pepin said. "They all chose projects that mean something to them."

(Want more MRH news? Find us on Facebook to stay in the know: www.facebook.com/MaplewoodBrentwoodPatch and www.facebook.com/ClaytonRichmondHeightsPatch)

Sya Collins, who Pepin calls "one of the top notch choir kids," dropped a heavy beat and rapped about the three branches of government for her project. (Download her song Checks and Balances.) Her hip-hop style makes listeners want to dance and forget that they're listening to lyrics about the constitutionality of laws in federal courts.

Students also used online cartoon builders to make videos about how bills become laws, one featuring Barack Obama and another with a television reporter asking about the process.

Pepin's eighth graders also made posters and political cartoons. (Scroll through the gallery above for examples.) Pepin's students may only be in eighth grade, but their projects dealt with serious topics even adults grapple with, including gay marriage, the national debt and corporate greed.

Students could choose the media and topic for their Active Citizen project, which requires students to demonstrate what they've learned about government in social studies.

Pepin wrote about the project on her blog with links to all the videos, song and posters.