January 15, 2010
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH - The R.E.A.L. School at Heights High School was decorated in orange during the week of November 9-13 to publicize the “Not For Sale” Campaign sponsored by Ms. Stephanie Ashford’s African American Literature classes.

After completing the unit on “The Literature of Slavery,” Ms. Ashford shared some staggering statistics with her students on the number of people who are victims of modern-day slavery in the United States and world-wide.

After further research, her classes were eager to heighten awareness about the crisis of human trafficking through a number of week-long activities, which included daily PA announcements; after-school sessions on “The Truth About Chocolate” and “Just for Girls: Staying Safe in an Unsafe World”; a “Freedom” bake sale; and Wear Orange Day, when students and staff showed their support of the Not For Sale Campaign by wearing the color of freedom.

Students participating in this project raised $250, which was sent to Gracehaven House, a shelter near Columbus for young girls who have been commercially exploited. After learning about the crisis in their Freshman Seminar classes, ninth graders in The Mosaic Experience and R.E.A.L. School, as well as the African American Literature classes, created “Freedom Walls” to celebrate their personal freedoms and call for others to have those same freedoms. The freedom walls are displayed in classrooms and hallways of the participating small schools.

“As students became more engaged in the project, they were no longer concerned about getting a grade,” Ms. Ashford said. “They took pride in the work they were doing, and were overwhelmed by the positive response from the school community.”

A “freedom chain” was formed throughout the week. With each student or staff member who participated in the week, or donated time or change, a link was added to the chain. By the end of the week, 288 people had become modern-day abolitionists. During the R.E.A.L. School Awards assembly, class representatives brought out the 288 link chain and symbolically “broke” the chains of modern-day slavery.

“This project brought attention to the global crisis of human trafficking that most people in our community know nothing about. It allowed my students to hone their skills in researching information via the Internet, problem-solving, collaborating, summarizing, and public speaking,” Ms. Ashford said.