Brattleboro High School students from CLEA spoke about student activism with
a group of eighth grade students from Putney Central School on Tuesday, May 20th.

CLEA group to speak with Putney students
By MICHAEL NEARY
Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- After blossoming as a student activist group that takes on tough issues surrounding child labor, members of the Child Labor Education and Action Project of Brattleboro Union High School plan to speak to a group of eighth-graders at the Putney Central School Tuesday, May 20, at 9 a.m.

"We're going to focus on student activism and how it's been our answer to the child labor problem," said BUHS senior Delia Kipp. "We're going to talk a little bit about CLEA and activism, and encourage the students to get involved when they get to high school."

MaryAnne Deer, a language arts teacher at Putney Central, said she'd noticed a range of interests in students -- "from saving the whales to picking up trash in the neighborhood" -- and added that the CLEA presentation could help the students find a community-action focus as they enter high school.

Deer said the students will be required to perform 40 hours of community service at BUHS.

One of the talk's sponsors is the Putney Public Library. Paul LeVasseur, a member of the library's board of trustees, praised the CLEA students and explained the library's interest in supporting the presentation.

"I'm very interested in the library doing its part for youth and supporting youth in the town of Putney," he said. "I want Putney kids to know that there are kids doing fantastic work."

LeVasseur said the event was open to the public.

CLEA was formed in 1998 through a federal grant and a cooperative effort between the School for International Training and BUHS. Mary Gannon of S.I.T. and Harrington "Tim" Kipp of BUHS act as moderators for the group.