Where Learning Meets Advocacy: The Story of Peace, Justice and Social Change

Open to 11th and 12th graders, teacher Sharon Ahram’s Peace, Justice and Social Change class explores the history of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement within the broader landscape of 20th century social movements. The course emphasizes the ways the African American Freedom Movement has shaped—and continues to shape—national conversations about equality, democracy and social justice.

Peace, Justice and Social Change has evolved over decades. Retired Penn Charter teacher Jim Ballengee Hon. 1689 traces its roots back 37 years, noting that when he arrived at PC in 1991, religion teacher Bill Kashatus had introduced a series of courses known as Art of Caring. “The whole idea was to get kids out of the classroom,” Ballengee recalled. “While learning about issues connected to the curriculum, they were also working directly with individuals in the community. For a Quaker school, that was so natural—extending outward into the community is right in our wheelhouse.”

In earlier years, the course centered on urban issues and poverty. In Philadelphia, students volunteered in public schools, maintained food banks at St. James School, and partnered with St. Francis Inn Ministries in Kensington. In 2003, Ballengee’s third year teaching Peace, Justice and Social Change, he brought students to the South Bronx in New York to visit a homeless shelter and public housing project. The work culminated in 2015 with the founding of Penn Charter’s Center for Public Purpose, launched under then-Head of School Darryl J. Ford Hon. 1689. With expanded resources and staffing, the center wove service learning into every grade level and strengthened partnerships with local organizations and marginalized communities.

As the course has grown and transformed, so too has its focus. Ahram, who took the reins from Ballengee in 2016, has reshaped the curriculum in response to student interests. “Year after year, students became really interested in the justice system—justice reform and mass incarceration,” she explained. “That’s where I started bringing in Bryan Stevenson’s work, along with research and advocacy from the Juvenile Law Center and the Innocence Project. I want students to know the history but also to see how we got here, what’s happening now and how they can be voices for change.”

Through guest speakers, site visits and case studies, Ahram encourages students to confront their own assumptions about the justice system, including stereotypes about people who are or have been incarcerated. “Ideally,” she said, “students begin to grasp the why behind problems in our justice system. These issues aren't isolated. They're rooted in deeper systems and histories that shape people's lives.”

For many students, Peace, Justice and Social Change becomes a springboard to independent projects. Inspired by guest speaker Judge Chelsey Lightsey, Zahir Kalam Id-Din OPC ’25 interned with her last year for his Senior Project. Reflecting on his experience, he said: “Many offenders were young adults not that much older than myself. I couldn’t stop asking: How do we prevent our youth from ending up in jail and becoming another statistic?”

Dean and Wills Kaiser, both OPC ’25, found a similar calling after learning about the case of Tyree Wallace, a man who served 26 years of a life sentence without parole for a second-degree felony murder conviction. After Wallace’s life sentence was vacated in November 2024, the brothers, then seniors, brought his story to Ahram’s class. Wills explained: “I realized one of the best ways to fight a wrongful conviction is to raise awareness—as loudly as possible.”

“Having a chance to participate in the movement for Tyree's rightful release, including speaking to him while he was incarcerated months before the hearing, has been one of the most impactful experiences of my life,” Dean said.

Their advocacy soon extended beyond the classroom. On Jan. 16, 2025, Wallace spoke at Penn Charter about his life in prison and his fight for reform. Addressing students and faculty, he credited their voices with helping to win his freedom. “The only reason I am here is because of people such as Dean, Wills and the other students who said, ‘We don’t care about procedure, we don’t care about technicality—he didn’t commit the crime, let him out.’ It was those voices—rallying, signing petitions, demanding better—that made the difference.”

Ballengee noted that Peace, Justice and Social Change not only inspires school projects and service but also has long-lasting impacts. “I still have kids who write to me and talk about the impact on the rest of their life from that,” he said. “It's really rewarding when you hear: ‘That really made a difference for me, that I confronted those issues and dealt with them in my own mind in my high school years.’”