Olympics take over Human Geography

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2036 Olympics. Well, sort of. Following the national AP Exam, students in Mrs. Roisman’s AP Human Geography class were assigned a project with the objective of convincing the Olympic Committee, also known as Mrs. Roisman, to put the 2036 Summer Olympics in their assigned city.

 “I have [my students complete the Olympics project] instead of a final exam. It represents everything we’ve studied all year,” Mrs. Roisman said. “If you think about what we studied all year, economically and politically, it’s all [in the project].”

The four cities assigned were Mumbai, India; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa and Mexico City, Mexico. Once assigned, students had to research their city to provide enough evidence that their city was eligible to host. This included finding venues to support each sport, providing housing and amenities to the athletes, figuring out transportation and raising enough money to fund it. They also had to decorate the classroom and bring in a snack from their respective country for the class to share. 

“I really liked the Olympics project because it was a fun way to show the information I learned throughout the year,” freshman Andrew Dieppa said. 

Cape Town, South Africa was the first group to present. An Olympics in Africa has yet to occur, so the groups had to push for it to happen. Freshman Ella Mosquera Cape Town, South Africa was the first group to present. An Olympics in Africa has yet to occur, so the groups had to push for it to happen. Freshman Ella Mosquera and her ninth-period group took on Cape Town. One of their main points was that Cape Town was near the ocean, which was a key factor regarding transportation. “We loved learning about the culture of Cape Town because we didn’t know much about it. This project gave me a different vision of Cape Town and South Africa in general,” Mosquera said. (Photo/Zoe Horowitz)
The groups presenting Mumbai, India were the last group to present. As part of the project, the group must bring in food to share with the class. Second period’s Kyra Lawrence catered food from her favorite Indian restaurant. “I liked picking out my favorite foods to share with the class. I was glad to see everybody enjoying it because seeing others happy makes me happy,” Lawrence said. Mumbai also decorated the walls and desks with materials such as table cloth, streamers and balloons. (Video/Emma Delgado)

Zoe Horwitz, a junior at American Heritage, returns to the Patriot Post for her third year as the Sports Editor and Assistant Editor-In-Chief. Besides reading and writing, she spends her time playing with her dog or tutoring younger students through Learn with Peers, a non-profit organization she helped found in 2020. During her freshman year, she co-founded FALIA (Food Allergy/Intolerance Awareness) at school, a club that advocates for those with food allergies. Zoe also plays lacrosse, as she plays for a club team and American Heritage girls varsity lacrosse team. Zoe is very excited to be contributing to the Patriot Post.