A presentation of AIT.
>> It's messy.
It is freedom and it's rules.
It's rights
and responsibilities.
It's conflict and resolution.
>> Both empowerment
and compromise.
>> It is justice.
It is individual
and it's collective.
>> It's fairness,
respect and values.
>> It is equality.
It is truth.
It is government
and it's choices.
It's passionate.
It's problem solving.
It's action and it's possible.
It's me, my family
and my community.
"Democracy it is."
>> All: Democracy it is!
>> I don't believe it.
>> It looks like somebody
found our hiding spot again.
>> This is disgusting!
How could people do this?
>> We had to clean this up
before and now it's even worse.
Let's just go.
>> We can't just leave this spot
looking like this.
>> Why not?
This isn't our mess.
It's not like we threw it here.
>> Well, we have a choice.
We can either let this
keep happening
or we can try to change it.
>> Like how?
>> Go talk to someone.
Get other people involved, too.
>> I don't know, Haley, that
sounds like a lot of work to me.
>> It's up to you.
This is a great hideout.
Do you want to hang out here,
or not?
>> Well, I do like it here,
and it's close to home.
So, if we get any good ideas,
let's try them.
>> Let's start with getting as
much as the not-so-gross stuff
as we can for now,
and see what we can do later.
>> Okay, here, I've got a bag.
>> Oh!
My name is Quinn Haberl.
And I'm a black belt
in Tae Kwon Do.
I've always enjoyed singing.
? 'Til by turning ?
? Turning we come out right ?
And I am visually impaired,
which means that I see
a little bit, but not much.
When I was five years old,
I asked my parents
if I could get a guide dog.
And they said...
( buzzer sound )
No.
Because in the United States,
they do not provide guide dogs
to children under the age of 18.
There was a school
up in Montreal, Canada, that
gave guide dogs to children.
My dad flew me up to
the guide dog school,
where I stayed for one month
and trained with Coda.
And Coda has changed my life
so much.
Before I got Coda,
I would fall down stairs
and I would literally
walk into walls.
Now I have the freedom.
I can be a normal citizen
of my community.
Coda and I have the right
to be anywhere
that any other person can be
regardless of our disability.
It's a big responsibility
to have a guide dog.
Kids who can handle a guide dog
should be able
to experience the freedom
and should be able to experience
my dream coming true for them.
>> Quinn came home
from school one day, and said,
"What are the chances
that we could build
a guide dog school here
for kids in the United States?"
We are totally committed
to making this happen.
>> One the words that I learned
was "networking," and that's
getting the word out.
Talking to new people,
telling them about my dream
and telling them how their help
is greatly appreciated.
Well, this morning, I spoke
at the County Board because
we're looking for any sort of
help that we can get from them,
anything that they
can offer to us is awesome.
My dream is not complete
until I have made other
children's dreams come true
just as mine has,
with the building
of the first guide dog school
in the United States
for children, right here
in Marinette County, Wisconsin.
Thank you very much
for having me speak today.
( applause )
You've got to respect
other people's viewpoints,
so you should always listen,
even if you disagree
with somebody,
always listen
to what they have to say.
>> Community support
here in Marinette
has just been incredible.
>> We had a fundraiser,
a pet walk.
People in the community
are raising puppies for us.
It's just the people
coming forward and saying,
"We want to help."
And my family's
just been the best.
They're my support team.
I want to see the quality
of visually impaired
and blind children's life--
I want to see the quality
of their life change,
because every kid has potential,
regardless of what disability
they have.
And no kid should forget that.
>> So, I talked to my soccer
coach last night.
She's also
a City Council member.
She told me everything
about City Council meetings
and how they work.
>> So, what will we be doing?
>> Basically, we have
ten minutes to present our ideas
to the City Council.
For now, our job is to get
all of our research organized.
Let's see what we've got.
>> Last week, I took lots
of pictures of city parks
that have litter problems.
>> Great, so we're set there.
>> And we have a lot of people
who agree with our surveys.
>> Yeah, and I can tell
from all the letters people have
been writing to the newspaper
that we're not the only ones
upset about all this litter.
>> Okay, and to fix this
problem, we agree that we need
more garbage cans,
more trash collection days
and more park signs, right?
>> Wait.
Why park signs?
>> Because when people see
park signs, they're less likely
to throw trash around.
They know that somebody
cares enough about the park
to put up a sign.
>> Hey, check it out.
Park signs seem to work
pretty well in these other
communities.
>> Hey, how about we bring
some garbage we found
at the park, like that old tire?
>> Let's see if we can find
another way to do that.
Like this poster of pictures,
our survey and some other parts
of our research.
>> We've definitely got
a lot of information collected.
>> Yeah, this presentation
is gonna be awesome!
>> Nerstrand School
is a service learning school.
And we do all sorts of projects.
>> We're making sandwiches
for the Simpson Homeless Shelter
in Minneapolis.
>> People need food
at the homeless shelter.
And we'll always try to help
people that are struggling.
>> We have a responsibility
for each other, our school
and our community.
>> We're planting acorns.
And once they grow,
we're going to take them
out of the pots and plant them
in the big woods.
We learned that we need trees
for oxygen, you know, 'cause
we need oxygen to live.
>> At our school, we think
it's very important
that it's not the adults
that make all the decisions
for the children,
especially when it
comes to service learning.
>> We also need new ideas
for service projects.
What are your suggestions?
>> We can go around Nerstrand
and pick up garbage.
>> Everybody has a say
in this school.
>> There are lots of committees
and the student's voice
is heard.
>> Like a few kids from
every homeroom is in
the "Learn and Serve" group.
>> The Learn and Serve students
meet, and then they're
responsible for taking back
information to the homerooms.
>> Our ideas come from
our homerooms.
>> So, then we'd go back
to Learn and Serve and then
we'd figure out what would be
the best idea.
>> So we're going to break
into our homeroom groups.
And you are going to go over
the list of ideas that
your homeroom came up with.
And you're going to narrow
those down to the top five.
Okay?
Talk about--
'Cause some of you might have
different opinions.
>> Then we could do,
like, games.
>> Yeah.
>> If we didn't have respect
in our committee meeting,
everybody would be
fighting all the time, and
we wouldn't get anything done.
>> It's really important
for them to know how
to problem solve,
how to work as a team.
>> Everybody gets to decide.
>> When you give kids choice,
they, I think have a feeling
more of it's their projects.
Kids understand that you
can really make a difference
in the world by reaching out
to others.
>> I know what I've learned here
I'll always remember.
>> Wow, who knew that
a City Council meeting could be
so exciting?
>> Yeah, but we still didn't get
everything we asked for.
They didn't give us
a "yes" or a "no"
on our idea for more
garbage cans and park signs.
>> And they said more
trash collecting days
are definitely out.
The parks department is
stretched to the limit on that.
>> Well, my mom has a saying.
"We're one voice among many."
>> What does that mean?
>> It means that there's a lot
of needs and ideas
for the Council to consider
along with ours.
>> And I sure wasn't expecting
that one guy to talk tonight.
He might have blown our chances
just to get this done.
>> Well, I understand
what he was saying, signs
and garbage cans just being
more clutter in our parks.
I just don't agree with him.
It isn't like we wanted
to add a fast food restaurant,
or something.
>> Why did he say people should
be taking out their own trash?
They aren't doing that
and that's the problem.
>> Yeah, but it was really cool
when that same guy
came up to us afterwards and
told us what a great job we did.
>> I guess people really can
disagree about important things
and still be respectful.
>> It's still taking forever,
and now we have to wait
another week.
>> It's taken us a month
to get this far.
These things take time.
>> You can say that again.
>> San Pablo is like, across
the Bay of San Francisco.
Our schools are in need badly.
>> If an earthquake
happens here, they're not safe.
>> We need more textbooks
for our school, because
we can't learn without them.
>> There was like,
no toilet paper and no water,
you know, for your hands.
>> So why does their
public school look like
it's about to fall apart?
>> And you know, we're wondering
why that is, because
supposedly everybody
is supposed to be equal,
you know, everybody
has equal rights here.
>> That's when they were able
to see with their own eyes,
this is unjust;
this is unfair.
So one kid started talking
to another kid.
And then there started
to be conversations
out in the classroom,
out on the playground.
And kids were like,
what if we come together?
So, we had a huge meeting
in the auditorium.
And then, the idea of the March
came about.
The March 4 education
was a 70-mile march
all the way to the state capital
in Sacramento.
>> We're marching 70 miles
to bring attention to the fact
that the schools in our district
are not equal to the schools
throughout the rest
of the state.
>> The march started when
we were in our spring break.
>> Kids made the choice.
I'm not going to be watching TV
or playing video games
during my spring break.
I'm going to march
about 12 miles a day.
That's the choice the kids made.
They convinced their parents
this is something
that was within their rights.
>> Everybody has the right
to be heard.
That's why we were marching.
>> I was leading
the slogans.
>> Marchers: What do we want?
Education!
>> What do we want?
Education.
When do we want it?
Now.
>> Everybody around
was cheering cheers,
talking about the problems
in our community.
>> Some people came out
of their houses
just to march at least one mile.
>> So we were passing a bridge,
and people under the freeway,
they were honking at us.
Telling you, you know,
we believe what you're doing
is right, so keep on doing it.
That's when I felt like, really,
I was making a difference.
>> I think marching in the
group was an effective way
to show people that
not only one person thinks
that we need our education.
>> Once a student finds out
there's an injustice,
yes, you have rights.
You have the right to protest.
You have the right to speak out.
But you also have
a responsibility to speak up.
And to do it in a way that's
going to bring people together.
>> You should also show
what you think,
not keep it to yourself.
Because then later on,
you might be complaining,
and it might also be your fault
because you
didn't say something.
>> Podiamos hacer algo
por nuestra communidad.
>> And they did see changes.
So, now the local elementary
school is going to get changes,
it is going to get renovated.
>> The march made a change
in my life
because my voice could be heard.
>> This sign looks great!
>> And the garbage can
fits right in!
>> Hey, you two,
come look at our hideout!
Wow!
What a difference!
>> Whoa!
It looks like
our old place again.
Even better!
>> This was a lot easier
than I thought.
>> Is this the same guy
that was complaining
about how hard this was?
>> Okay, so, it wasn't easy.
>> It was a lot of work.
>> Yes, but it all seems
worth it.
I didn't think we stood a chance
when we decided to take on
this problem.
>> But we still didn't get
everything we asked for.
And I thought we made
a pretty good case for those
extra trash collection days.
>> True.
But that's the reality
of making a change like this.
There's lots to think about.
That's how this stuff goes.
>> Yes, but the important thing
is that we didn't give up
and we did make
some good changes.
>> Yeah, this definitely was
a group effort.
>> All right, so we're ready
for the next project, right?
>> Next project?
>> Let's see if we can
get the City Council
to clean up my bedroom.
>> Yeah, right.
>> To learn more about our program, visit our Web site: democracyitis.ecb.org