Sandburg students compile stories

Sandburg Middle School has been engaged in human rights education for several years.  An example of the impact of human rights education is exemplified by a play the students wrote one year. Both teachers and students at the school collaborated with a playwright from Stages Theater Company to create, rehearse, and perform an interactive play about refugees.  The play was called "A Walk in Their Shoes".  Students from the International Baccalaureate Program worked with ESL students to gather stories of coming to the U.S.  They then wove the experiences into a unique performance, which was open to their fellow students, their parents, and other community members.  Afterward, the students wrote about how the experience affected their mindset about refugees.

Sandburg Middle School
2400 Sandburg Lane
Golden Valley, MN 55427

The Mission:
"We at Sandburg recognize the unique needs of our students as they experience profound changes in emotional, spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social growth. We emphasize the fostering of academic excellence in a safe and orderly environment."

The School:
Sandburg has 1,300 middle school students, grades 6-8.  As one of the area's older schools, the school's 1959 dedication was attended by poet Carl Sandburg, for whom the school was named. Since then, the school has embraced progressive learning programs, and was among the first to offer such gender-bending classes as home economics for boys and basketball for girls. Now, Sandburg has both an International Baccalaureate program and an ESL program. Its student body has become quite diverse in the past decade as more immigrant families are living in the northwestern suburbs.

Teachers:
*Lauren Hildebrand - director, International Baccalaureate middle years program (Rights Sites supporting administrator)
*Katy Nelson - math and science - grade 6
*Mark Nelson - humanities - grade 7
*Molly Wilson - language,

E.S.L. teacher Andy Luu with students.

reading, and science - grade 6
*Nicole Gilbertson - reading, language arts, and math - grade 6
*Rhonda van Bergen - language arts and humanities - grade 6 

Playwright
Mark Rosenwinkel  

Website
http://www.rdale.k12.mn.us/sms/