The library within Dartmouth Middle School was packed full of eighth grade students on Tuesday, April 15 as they presented civics projects. From mental health to composting — the hustle and bustle of informed issues could be heard from the hallways. 

The annual civics project inspired real change last year. The use of metal lunch trays in Dartmouth Middle School and Potter Elementary School stemmed from 2024's civics projects. 

Librarian Laura Gardner ran the showcase and said while projects aren’t new — the idea of having community members judge them is. 

“This year we decided we were ready to take it to the next step and every single student in eighth grade did a project completely of their own choosing,” she said. 

The projects that get the most votes from students, teachers and special guests from the Tuesday event will go on to the regional showcase at UMass Dartmouth. 

Addison Simmons, 14, Paige Goncalves, 13, Maika Lim, 13, Adeline Roper, 13, and Braelyn Dumas, 13, all of Dartmouth came together to present the issue of bike lanes and sidewalks. The group shared an interest in meeting up with friends around town — yet most of the time they found they were unable to get to these spots safely. 

Citing past instances of pedestrian death in the area — the group's solution was to add more sidewalks and bike lanes to the inaccessible areas around Dartmouth. 

Andrew Sylvain, 14, and Zak Nieuwenhuizen, 13, took inspiration from their neighbors for their project based on the loneliness of elderly people. After noticing how little relatives visit and how long their older community members talk — the pair wanted to help. 

“Our solution is to have a dinner party,” Sylvain said. “We would try to get local restaurants to help get food for the elderly people — but also some of them when they get older don’t have transportation by themselves. So we would rent a bus for them and pick them up at their home.”

A red light on the water fountains in Dartmouth Middle School inspired Brianna Dos Santos, 14, and Kelsey Ferreira, 14. They found that janitors will often take the filters out of the fountains and put them back in to reset the lights — never replacing them. Their goal was to get safer and cleaner drinking water for the school.

“A lot of kids — their health is absolutely being affected by this," Dos Santos said. "Because they refuse to drink water, they lack focus and they're dehydrated."

They pooled together responses from their peers and found most students do not drink school water. From one anonymous participant saying they found strange floating items in their drinks to one simply saying, "I hate water," they hope to take the issue to administration.

Laura Gardner praised her students for dedicating time and effort toward their projects 

"This is an age when a lot of kids feel like they're powerless and they feel like nobody is listening to them," Gardner said.

With School Committee, Town Hall and district office members attending and lending an ear to hear the issues, Gardner said she loves that her kids have the chance to be influential. 

"I think it's really powerful for kids to see that their voice really does matter and they have the chance to make a difference on things that do matter to them," she said.

Kate Jagoda, Olivia Rocha, Ella Torres and Addison Thomas' project about feminine products in  the school bathrooms will be advancing on to the Regional Civics Showcase at UMass Dartmouth.

Those working on the safety issues with bike lanes and sidewalks will join them Tuesday, May 27 as the second group voted to advance.