Sixth-grade students at Edith Bowen hold rally for Bears Ears

Sixth graders at Edith Bowen Laboratory School conducted an outdoor rally on Thursday afternoon to practice their public speaking skills and defend their positions on what should be done with the land surrounding Bears Ears National Monument. 

Students chose which position they would defend from three options: preserving the land, managing the land for rancher use and using the land to mine for natural resources. 

The rally comes after the students passed Bears Ears on their way to a river trip down the San Juan River. The sixth-grade classes teamed up with Utah State University researchers to create a learning experience that combined writing, science and social studies. 

After researching each position and choosing which to defend, the sixth-graders put together the rally for the rest of the students at Edith Bowen to attend. Each group had games, handouts, posters, videos and speeches prepared to convince their younger classmates. 

One sixth-grade student, Brooke, chose to argue for the side of land preservation. 

“We want to preserve it, make it a national monument because Native Americans— that’s what they want, and it was their land originally,” Brooke said. “We want to preserve it just because we want to keep this land beautiful.”

Another sixth-grader, Elizabeth, was in favor of mining the land for its natural resources. 

“If you preserve the land and keep it hidden and stuff, then nobody can use the resources underneath the ground,” Elizabeth said. “And the economy would go down essentially because mining is the biggest part of Utah’s economy.”

Gage, another sixth-grader, supported managing the land for rancher use because “we use so much of America already for ranching that if we don’t have these small little areas as well, then we can’t have all these meat products.”  

Gage gave his speech in support of this position to the students lined up to play his group’s game: lassoing bottles to win some Jolly Ranchers. 

Darcy Ritchie

Sixth-grade student Gage gives his speech in favor of managing the land around Bears Ears for rancher use.

“It’s kind of just letting us say our opinion to all these kids,” Gage said. “It helps us learn how to persuade people on issues like Bears Ears.”

When first arriving, students marked on their ballot which perspective they agreed with at first glance. Students then voted for which side they agreed with most after visiting each booth. 

Sixth-grade teacher Stuart Baggaley said the voting was set up this way so the sixth graders could see how many minds they were able to change. 

“In sixth grade, we talk a lot about argument writing,” Baggaley said. “This is going to be a way that the kids can see how persuasive they are and if their arguments were strong enough to persuade them.”

Baggaley also said that it’s good for students to get experience with rallies and voting on a small scale, so they’ll be ready for the “real deal” when they’re older. 

“In the time we live today, it’s good to know what’s important, and it’s good to know how to research and argue for a point,” Baggaley said. “And it’s good to stick up for what you think.”

-darcy.ritchie@usu.edu

@darcyrrose