Students attend Human Rights conference as part of early college experience class

Students enrolled in Wright Tech’s  Early College Experience (ECE) Human Rights course took a field trip to Platt Tech to participate in the Connecticut Human Rights Youth Action Summit. The goal of this conference was to immerse students in a global human rights discussion in which students are the experts and the leaders. The conference format resembled many education-related conferences, with both breakout sessions and poster presentations.

 

“The quality of work put forward by our students was impressive, mature, and thought-provoking,” said Social Studies Instructor Brian Colantonio.

 

In one presentation, a group of three students conducted a “four corners discussion,” using questioning tactics with a level of comfort usually reserved for veteran teachers, according to Colantonio. He added that Wright Tech’s students were “poised, interactive with the audience, and assertive – no easy task when presenting research on highly controversial global issues.” 

 

Colantonio attended the conference with fellow Social Studies instructor Luis Bridtter, who was pleased with the group’s performance.

 

“Watching our students in this setting, I felt so much pride for them and for the work that we all do, day in and day out. I know it’s not a competition, but the maturity and respect with which our students carry themselves seems uniquely developed when compared to other schools. I felt this way when we did conferences in the past with Darien High School,” said Colantonio.