Sen. Wolf and Rep. Peake visit HHS Government Class

On Friday May 17, 2013, Sen. Dan Wolf and Rep. Sarah Peake visited Harwich High School to speak with government students about state government. They talked about their background and how they decided to get involved in politics, as well as several key issues such as the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant and the Cape Wind project. They also discussed ways that the students can get involved. The visit gave students a window into the state legislative process and let them get to know their representatives personally. Thank you to Sen. Wolf and Rep. Peake for taking time from their busy schedules to meet with us. Photo courtesy of Bill Galvin, Cape Cod Chronicle

Carl Wilkens visits Harwich High School

On Wednesday, April 24, Carl Wilkens visited Harwich High School to speak about Rwanda. Mr. Wilkens was the only American to stay in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994, during which he was able to save the lives of hundreds of orphans. After addressing an all-school assembly, Mr. Wilkens spent the rest of the day discussing his experiences with history classes, giving students a unique opportunity to interact with someone who acted heroically in the face of inhumanity. As our history classes study human rights and genocide, this experience immeasurably deepens their understanding of the subject. Mr. Wilkens was able to leave the students with many inspirational stories of courage and triumph as Rwanda today has become a rapidly developing and more egalitarian society. Mr. Wilkens also gave an evening talk on Thursday, April 25 for members of the community, presenting a new documentary about his experiences during the genocide. Harwich HS STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) invited Mr. Wilkens to HHS as part of Peace Week which STAND co-hosted with the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance). HHS STAND would like to thank Mr. Wilkens for honoring us with his visit. A video of his presentation at the all-school assembly: A video of his interview with Mindy Todd on WCAI that afternoon:

Harwich High School Hosts 6th Civil Liberties Forum

For the sixth consecutive year, Harwich High School hosted a Civil Liberties forum for its United States Government students in the HHS Library. The program was developed with Superior Court Judge Robert Rufo, who again presided over the exercise, this year aided by Assistant District Attorney Edward Lynch, Defense Attorney Robert Hofmann, and Sgt. Det. David Jacek of the Harwich Police Department. The forum consisted of two mock Motion to Suppress hearings in which opposing counsel interviewed the arresting officer and argued before the judge whether evidence obtained in the hypothetical scenarios should be allowed at trial. Each session also allowed the 40-50 students attending the opportunity to ask questions and advise Judge Rufo on how he should rule in the case. The exercise is the culmination of the government students month-long unit on Civil Liberties and the Courts. Harwich High School expresses its profound gratitude to Judge Rufo, ADA Lynch, Atty. Hofmann, and Sgt. Jacek for taking the time from their busy professional lives to share their expertise with our students and to make their studies come alive in such a real world scenario. We are extremely fortunate to be able to continue this exercise, and look forward to doing so again next year, and then in our new Monomoy Regional High School the year following.