Students at Vergennes Union Middle School finished a civics unit by writing open letters. Our driving question was: What makes democracy work?

To create this final project, teachers and students used The New York Times open letter contest framework. Students could choose any topic they felt passionate about. The letters are being published in several different venues: in our school newsletter, on Front Porch Forum, in the Addison Independent, and on school bulletin boards. Two students submitted their letters to the NYT contest!

Our students did a wonderful job writing these letters, and we hope you enjoy reading the ones that appear here. We expect these students will continue to use their voices to highlight issues they care about!

Libby Payeur and Nan Guilmette
VUMS Humanities Teachers

STUDENT LETTERS:

• • Dear people who have lost someone from a violent action
  • Dear world
  • Dear VUMHS sports spectators
  • Dear every adult who doesn’t seem to understand teens
  • To the Vermont Department of Transportation
  • Dear Mayor Bearor and Governor Phill Scott
  • Dear citizens of Addison County
  • Dear Mr. Redmond, our Vergennes City Manager
  • Dear Mr. Sanders and Mr. Welch
  • Dear Vermont voters
  • Dear basketball fans
  • Dear Mr. President
  • Dear people with pretty good mental health
  • Dear Vergennes citizens
  • Dear basketball fans
  • To the people of the United States of America