Students try to solve problems through Waukegan High's Mikva Challenge; ‘You … do democracy to make it happen'

Chicago Tribune

28-04-2025

Learning to take action is a major goal for Waukegan High School civics students participating in the annual Mikva Challenge. In fact, two of the groups are primed to lobby members of the Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education to achieve their goal.
A team of Jocsan Cruz and Janet Martinez, both juniors, tested the water coming from drinking fountains at the high school's Washington campus and found it lacking. Carlos Torres, another junior, found the taste of the water varied from fountain to fountain. All the fountains are old.
Calculating it will cost $26,000 to replace the campus's 18 fountains with those that are state of the art, Torres said he planned to study the names and pictures of board members so he could lobby them if they turned up at Friday's event.
'I want the district to upgrade them for all of the schools,' Torres said. 'I'm going to talk to the board. They could do it over the summer before school starts again.'
Torres, Cruz and Martinez were three of more than 100 students representing 53 yearlong projects at the high school's Washington campus to improve a variety of situations in the community.
Though the majority of participants were from Waukegan, there were also students from North Chicago Community High School and Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
Cliff Turner, a social studies teacher at Waukegan High School and one of the teachers overseeing the Mikva Challenge, said the theme of the program is 'democracy is a verb.' The students identify an issue, develop a plan to deal with it, do research and get support to activate it.
'You go out and do democracy to make it happen,' he said. 'You fix the problem because you are part of the community. They talk to stakeholders in the community and gather support. It's even more important now that we accept the challenge,' he added, referring to the political climate in Washington D.C. 'Otherwise democracy dies.'
Ron Ashlaw, another social studies teacher who instructs civics classes, said many of his students are finding local issues centered around the school. Moving from the newer Brookside campus as freshmen and sophomores to the more than century-old Washington campus for the final two years, they see a big difference in the two buildings.
'They see a lot of things which need fixing,' Ashlaw said.
Working mostly in pairs, 12 groups chose gun or gang violence as a topic, while six picked the environment, five chose addiction to drugs or alcohol, and another quintet delved into mental health issues. Discrimination, immigration, education and housing were other topics.
Cruz and Martinez also want new water fountains. They tested the water, learning it was satisfactory in some of the school's fountains, but not all. They also got a visit from District 60 school board member Rick Riddle. He encouraged them to reach out to his colleagues.
'I like what I see them doing,' he said. 'I encouraged them to get involved. I told them to email the board. We've had some students come to board meetings with their projects. I encouraged (Cruz and Martinez) to come to the board. They are part of the community.'
With a budget of more than $328 million for the current school year, Torres, Cruz and Martinez said they are hopeful their suggestions will lead to action.
Christopher Moreno and Akemi Cruz are among the people selecting gun violence as their topic. For Cruz, it is personal because she knows people who have been impacted. It is very personal for Moreno.
'My dad was shot when I was 4,' he said. 'There was nothing I could do when I saw him in the hospital,' he added, saying his father fully recovered.
Cruz said 98% of the people they surveyed felt there should be more education before anyone can buy a gun, and 92% said there should be a thorough background check before anyone can purchase one. They plan to talk to Waukegan's mayor and City Council members about stricter gun laws.
Knowing schoolmates who deal with stress and trauma in their lives, juniors Ashley Sotelo and Jada Allen developed a project to help those who need to deal with mental health issues. They want counselors or social workers available to help those in need.
Victims of discrimination, Josselyn Rivera — because of her accent — and Nathan Creamer — a member of the LGBTQ community — chose prejudice as their topic. They want to see an organization where all people can feel comfortable.
'English is my second language,' Rivera said. 'Spanish I my first language. When I say things, sometimes people laugh at me. That's discrimination.'