Brownsville Students in Action Groundbreaking Ceremony

Brownsville Students in Action past and present members; Jaden Harvey, Bekah Ulery, Alaina Johnson, Andrew Havens, Ryan Dubos, Kylie Bodnovich, Ashton Reposky, Megan Sawka, Sainiana Waqanivalu, Jakob Sabatula, Salanieta Waqanivalu

The Brownsville Area High School Students in Action (SIA) Team is a part of a national nonprofit, Multiplying Good, that channels the power of public service to unleash potential in individuals. The Brownsville SIA organization was created in 2011 when a small group of high school students took the initiative to help their hometown. After several years of hard work and forward thinking, the team raised over $300,000 and created an all new park and amphitheater in downtown Brownsville. They won top honors in the country as the National Gold Banner Team for Students in Action at the Jefferson Awards Foundation National Ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Cast Iron Amphitheater Project invigorated and energized the residents of Brownsville to become active in clean up and planting throughout the downtown area, and a staggering total of eleven new businesses have opened in the newly revitalized community.

The students are at work once again to multiply good in their small city. Looking for ways to bridge the school and community, they have partnered with the Brownsville Free Public Library which was in need of financial and community support. They found out that the majority of programming at the library is geared towards young children and adult community members because high school students in our area do not frequent the library. They saw an opportunity to provide solutions to each of these issues by engaging with the library and creating a space designed for teens, bringing in a previously untapped demographic. This space will provide a safe place for students to gather, collaborate on school projects, do research and socialize with their peers.

The district is excited to announce the official groundbreaking of the Teen Space happened on Friday July, 31st, 2020. The first steps toward the library’s revitalization have been taken, and they are closer to connecting the school and community than ever before.