Starting in the 2025-26 school year I will be teaching a Law 1 CTE elective course. This semester-long course is an introduction to the state and federal justice system, focusing on the different divisions of law, trial practice and ethics through research, writing and application. Law 1 will be focused on creating a foundation of basic skills necessary for students interested in all levels of the legal professions. Additionally, this course will incorporate CTE model standards for the Public Service pathway. To further enhance student's experience and analysis of the course, I would like students to read a oral history supplemental text regarding the flaws within the justice system. The supplemental text is called, Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated by Lola Vollen & Dave Eggers and provides accounts from individuals who were wrongfully accused. This text will directly support our analysis of criminal law and highlight to students the necessity of ensuring evidence is accurate and the sentencing is justified. I am requesting 40 copies of this novel through this grant cycle.
By using this supplemental text, students will be able to directly relate to the material we are teaching and analyzing in class. Adding additional literacy opportunities into an elective class provide students a chance to deepen comprehension through high interest accounts. I have used the Voice of Witness before at Aim High in the past, and the engagement for students with genuine accounts is powerful.
This will be the first year of this particular CTE course, but if the class is able to take off with enough interest, we will be able to start to discuss expanding the pathway and future partnerships with Sierra College to finalize the pathway with a capstone course. The pressure is on for this course next year and I want to ensure students can not only engage for the entire 18 weeks, but really gain a strong understanding of the field of law and the future employment opportunities that exist within. To accomplish this, I need to use all resources possible to hook and keep my students locked into what we are learning and the real world connections that can exist outside of our classroom door.
Next year, I will be implementing this novel in multiple units of study to clarify and validate the foundations of law. The oral history supplemental text will be both an in-class and at-home reading opportunity for students to deepen their exposure to the failures within our justice system. Students will use these stories to help facilitate their project based assignments aligning with our unit on Criminal Law and the Appellate Courts. Pending on the student response, I hope in the following year to request another oral history novel, Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women’s Prisons, Compiled and Edited by Robin Levi and Ayelet Waldman, to showcase women's experiences in prison.
When I am not using this supplemental text, I hope to store these in the library and make them available for check out as part of a Free Read Challenge that we offer to our 9th grade Human Geography students.
While getting this course approved, I have worked closed with the District Office Curriculum Department and Truckee High. The District Office is going to order the Williams Compliant textbook, Street Law, but does not have enough funding to cover the supplemental text. Because of the timing for this course approval, the budget on site is not capable of funding the books I need for this class to launch in the 2025-26 school year. After conversations with both groups, I was advised to apply for an Ex in Ed grant to cover the costs of these novels.
Two years ago, I earned my CTE teaching credential in Public Safety to teach this class as a CTE alternative for students who may not be interested in some of the other pathways already available. Through scheduling complications, I was not able to run the class in the 2024-25 school year. I am more than excited to finally get this off the ground and offer opportunities in an incredibly diverse and necessary CTE pathway. These novels will help enhance my class and foster the type of engagement I need for this course to become a full pathway in the future. Thank you in advance for your consideration.