I’ve recently learned about a new, promising program to help high schoolers learn the art of civil tolerance: the High School Law Review. Its mission is to help high school students learn how to agreeably disagree, by engaging directly with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court cases, publishing their own ideas, and learning to articulate and challenge opposing viewpoints with clarity, rigor, and respect. Students defend their legal arguments through published local, state, and national law reviews – with the competition and prestige increasing at every level. The HSLR’s online platform, Studium, also gives teachers the tools to bring the program to their classrooms — including a publishing template for the final product.
The program is scaling fast. Students in 20 states have access to the program, which has received endorsements from Supreme Court justices and partners with a number of universities. HSLR’s founder, Olivia Gross, is a graduate of Avenues High School in NYC and the University of Chicago. As you can see from this photo of a current issue, these are serious articles by high school students on major legal issues of the day.
