The final guest of the year for Vince Durnan's Contemporary Civics Class was Congressman Jim Cooper, who visited last week to talk to the students about their responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.
"It's not my office. It's your office," he told the students, reminding them, "Be prepared. Don't shirk." For Congressman Cooper, that means reading newspapers and, of course, voting. He lamented the fact that, despite the 85% increase in high school voter registration in Davidson County, the newly registered students failed to vote.
Students asked questions about what is happening in Washington and about what we can expect in the future. Then Congressman Cooper's chief of staff Lisa Quigley, a USN parent, interrupted to offer some concrete advice--two things all the students should do:
1. Use social media to talk about the things that really matter and influence your friends and followers on these issues; 2. Register to vote before you leave Tennessee for college so you can file an absentee ballot.
As a part of Read Across USN Week, Middle School language learners read the same novel in their respective languages and worked together to complete a group activity based on the novel.
YMCA of Middle Tennessee Youth in Government program participant Ophelia Cherry Pulay '25 traveled to Washington, D.C. with a delegation of Middle Tennessee leaders to meet with Congressional members.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.