What were guinea pigs doing at the State House? (a newsletter from Providence Student Union) | The IDEA Blog

What were guinea pigs doing at the State House? (a newsletter from Providence Student Union) | The IDEA Blog:

What were guinea pigs doing at the State House? (a newsletter from Providence Student Union)

Posted by Shawn Strader on Feb 11, 2014 - 09:58 AM

Providence Student Union never ceases to amaze me... In my opinion they are some of the most intoxicating change-makers to follow, and so I love any opportunity to share what they are up. This news letter came to me last week in a subscribed update. Not only did they take their message to the State House, but the local news covered the event, and from the way it looks the participants had a fun time demonstrating too. Check it out, and subscribe to PSU's emails on their homepage - you won't regret it. 

Last week, the Rhode Island General Assembly got quite a surprise when an enormous pack of guinea pigs and lab rats took over the State House for an afternoon. 

That's me at the podium, standing in front of some of my guinea pig friends. Behind us are state legislators - a few of them even wore ears and whiskers!

Wait, what? Guinea pigs and lab rats? I know that sounds crazy, but that's what happened! Well, almost... My name is José Serrano. I'm a member of the Providence Student Union, and I came up with the idea for last week's event, "Operation: Guinea Pig," where students from across Rhode Island rallied at the State House dressed like lab animals - complete with whiskers, animal ears, paws and more - to show how the state is experimenting on us with high-stakes testing. As I said in my speech at the protest, "The reason we are dressed like guinea pigs and lab rats is simple - that is how we are being treated. The Department of Education hypothesized that high-stakes testing alone, without the extra resources our schools need, would solve our education problems. But this unproven gamble is playing with our futures, and we are here to say this needs to stop." 

Lindsey, the "scientist" from the Department of Education, with her NECAP syringe.

Watch coverage of "Operation: Guinea Pig" here!

Our event was a big success. Everyone in the State House wanted to see what was going on, and we got our message across big time.

I was especially glad that a lot of legislators came to see our skit, where my friends Lindsey and Yanine played "scientists" from the Department of Education who experimented on student guinea pigs. Using a giant (cardboard) syringe labeled NECAP, they showed some of the consequences of high-stakes testing; for example, when I was "injected"  the scientists took away my diploma and I was dragged into the criminal justice system, just like so many students who do not graduate high school. You can click here to watch the whole skit.