By Rachel Bell

KCRG news traveled to Mount Vernon High School on Monday, Feb. 17, for the second time to interview students and faculty about the Social Justice J-Term class. More specifically, the recent coming out of the “Humans Of Cedar Rapids” book.

The reporter and photographer arrived at the school, camera and tripod in hand. The interviews started with junior Bailey Priborsky. While the camera woman clipped the microphone to her waist, Priborsky spelled out her last name for the reporter, “P-r-i-b-o-r-s-k-y.” She then recounted her favorite story from the trip to Cedar Rapids. “There was an old lady on the street with a grocery cart. She said she came to Cedar Rapids in 2007 for a home and her biggest fear was that she would become homeless again,” said Priborsky. “And she’s homeless now.”

Junior Alyssa Maddocks was next in line for the interview. She remembered entering a coffee shop and conversing with a worker there. She asked her about her childhood and she specifically remembered how open the woman was; explaining her childhood in full detail including numerous camping trips.

Both Maddocks and Priborsky were changed from this two-week long experience, as they explained to the reporter. “I’d like to think it made me more passionate,” said Priborsky. Maddocks had similar thoughts, saying, “It opened my eyes that everyone has their own story and we have our own.”

English teacher Leigh Ann Erickson took over next, explaining the purpose of the class and specifically, the book they created together. The project was based off of “The Humans of New York.” The idea was to get to know people in the community. She explained how the students rode to Cedar Rapids, stopped at the library, and then went in their separate ways, left to wander the city’s streets. The students were expected to ask complete strangers different questions, anywhere from their favorite restaurant to their life story.

The reporter wound up the interview with one final question, “Why was this so important?”

“Many issues have a single story,” said Erickson. “All people who are homeless are like this, or all poor people are like that. This class shatters the single story. Homelessness is now a man who has a job and loves to cook. We now know a person, not an idea. That’s what empowers you to make a change.”