40 students from Oregon City and Portland-area high schools gathered for a discussion about "What Makes America Great (And Not Great) For You."
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Students from Oregon City High School recently welcomed their peers from Catlin Gabel, Wilson and De La Salle North high schools in Portland, to discuss their perspectives on "What Makes America Great And Not Great For You?" The national dialogue project was started by a small group of students at the Portland high schools for a project known as Winterim. Their goal, as Catlin Gabel juniors Luke Van Buskirk and Bailey Sneed told "Think Out Loud," was to start to address the extreme political polarization they saw, particularly after the 2016 presidential election. Van Buskirk:
“Today in America, it's manifested that people just aren't speaking to people who don't think like themselves. And I think that's a pretty big problem.”
Odalys Camacho says she's heard "build the wall" and "make America great again" in the halls at Oregon City High School.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Hundreds of responses poured in from around Oregon and in states all over the country. Students submitted one minute videos from Portland, Boardman, Coquille, Rainer, Riddle Grants Pass, Murphy, Klamath Falls, Williams, Oregon City, and Echo. Beyond Oregon, the videos came in from as far away as New York and Hawaii, and from Virginia, North Carolina, California, Idaho, Colorado, and Indiana.
The discussion at Matt Miller's Oregon City high school shop class was designed to hear from the students present, but also to get reaction to some of the views from students around the country. Catlin Gabel junior Bailey Sneed says creating a platform for young people to be able to connect about issues was one of the students' main goals.
As part of the Winterim project, the students are also creating a guide for facilitating conversations between people who don't necessarily see the world the same way.
Think Out Loud host Dave Miller talks to high school students in an Oregon City High School shop class, encouraging them to participate in the show about to begin.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Students from Oregon City, Catlin Gabel, Wilson, and De La Salle North high schools do some ice breaking exercises before the show, as technical director Zack Carver-Gustin and senior producer Allison Frost iron out the final details for the "Think Out Loud" recording.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
40 students from Oregon City and Portland-area high schools gathered for a discussion about "What Makes America Great (And Not Great) For You."
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Kegan Kmetic discusses his political perceptive on Think Out Loud at Oregon City High School.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Anthony Newborn tells "Think Out Loud" host Dave Miller that one of the things that makes America great is that anyone can succeed if they have the drive to do so.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Odalys Camacho says she's heard "build the wall" and "make America great again" in the halls at Oregon City High School.
Sage Van Wing / OPB
Special thanks to The CENTER's George Zaninovich, Catlin Gabel's Krystal Wu, and her husband Matt Miller at Oregon City High School.
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