Fremd students host poverty awareness week

Two classes at Fremd High School in Palatine participated in a unique event to create awareness around the global issue of poverty.

“Poverty Awareness Week” was a series of events hosted by students in the World Affairs and Multicultural Perspectives classes to educate students about poverty locally and globally.

“The Hunger Banquet really opened my eyes and made me realize how widespread and awful poverty really is,” said Morgan Faulkner, a sophomore at Fremd High School. “It made me realize that we stereotype people who aren’t as fortunate and it’s horrible. Kids need to become more aware of other’s experiences in order to diminish the problem.”

The week was dedicated to empowering students in fighting poverty.

The biggest activity was a “Hunger Banquet,” in which participating students were given a meal representative of a traditional meal from different countries around the world ranging in socioeconomic status. Small group discussions gave participants a chance to talk about their experiences.

The classes also hosted “What the World Eats,” where photos displayed what a typical family eats all around the world. And the classes screened the documentary “Poor Kids” after school. Donations were collected throughout the week to benefit the Palatine Food Pantry.

“Students made connections to hunger and poverty not only around the world and United States, but also in the Palatine area,” said Martin Zacharia, social studies teacher at Fremd High School. “They also began to question simplistic views of the poor as lazy, dangerous, and undeserving, and most importantly, they identified the urgency of addressing hunger now. By sharing a variety of possibilities, both individual and societal, they could help alleviate hunger in our community and beyond.”

The event reminded him and Courtney Wilhelm, social studies teacher at Fremd, why they went into teaching and how important and transformative events like this can be, he said.