This is the first of a four-part series about a newspaper that was started in a Civic Mirror country by Grade 10 Civics students from Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario. Not only did the students of this country, named Trixtown, start The Roasted Marshmallow newspaper, but their involvement was felt throughout the Civic Mirror’s online community with over 1,200 forum posts in less than 10 weeks.
Their teacher, Kristin Greatrix, known in Civic Mirror World as “Queen Trix of Turner” introduces the series with this post. Enjoy!
Introducing The Roasted Marshmallow
The citizens of Trixtown wanted to have an online newspaper and wasted no time setting it up. The Roasted Marshmallow was named by MP Raghav Ramola and brought to life by Anjan Puri with his scathing account of the House of Commons, which he predicted would amount to a fascist dictatorship. Anjan was quickly accused of defamation and taken to court. Responses from citizens abounded, most disagreed with Anjan and did not understand why he so vehemently labelled their elected Prime Minister a fascist and a wannabe dictator.
It all became clear when a housing crisis was averted with a referendum awarding Prime Minister Varun the power to amend the constitution without parliament’s involvement. Within two days, the Constitution was reworded to make “His Saviour, Varun Puri” the sole legislator as well the judge, jury and executioner of Trixtown. On the very last day of our simulation, His Saviour Varun Puri, nationalized all hexes (except green space) resulting in mass evictions and deaths of several Trixtown residents.
The Roasted Marshmallow played a critical role in allowing students to express their opinions. They responded to each other in online forums and argued at school, in and out of class. Unfortunately, reading the newspaper and developing opinions wasn’t enough. It was only when it was too late that Trixtown residents realized how important active citizenship is, and that voter apathy literally gets you nowhere!
– Kristin Greatrix, Teacher at Turner Fenton Secondary
Now that is high quality education. The Civic Mirror gives teachers an opportunity to be amazing teachers by empowering students. Way to go Civic Mirror!