Persuasive essays. Been there, done that, right? Well, English teacher Tammy Sheffield took that concept to a new level when she told her juniors to hold a mock protest.

“I was just trying to think of something that was just different than what we had done before,” Sheffield said. “With all the different violent protests that have been on TV, I felt it was important that students should see that there is an alternative to violence.”

After looking at rhetorical devices and how Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi practiced civil disobedience, groups of students chose topics ranging from ending animal abuse and school lunch programs to legalizing marijuana and psychedelics. With their topics in mind, they chose protest methods that included creating an online presence or video, going outside to march with posters and putting together the standard powerpoint.

“It was fun,” junior Savannah Woodbury said. “Out of all the projects that I’ve been assigned at school, I think this is one of my favorites since we got to pick what we got to do and express what we feel about it in your own way.”

While engaging the students, there were some difficulties when dealing with the assignment’s opposition requirement.

“Trying to find downfalls [for legalizing medical marijuana was difficult],” junior Jordan Myers said. “You have all these opinion based downfalls like how it affects their judgement and does all this stuff, but that’s opinion based; that hasn’t been scientifically proved.”

Overall, the project was a success.

“Students have been really engaged in the project,” Sheffield said. “I’m hoping I get to do it again next year.”