Students in the history elective Social and Political Changes have been studying the recent uprisings in Syria. Through their research, they discovered that they were only seeing and reading news items from a western perspective. In an effort to examine all sides of the issue, the class has reached out to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad via the Syrian Embassy and major news outlets in an attempt to conduct a Skype conversation with him and his wife to hear their side of the Syrian story.

The students sent the following letter and accompanying video.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Assad,

We are writing from a small private school in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA, and are curious to hear your opinion on the current situation in your country.

Our class has been focusing on what has been happening in Syria for the majority of our unit on the Arab Spring. There are many different sides to this conflict, and we were all wondering what your opinion is. News reports on the events in Syria present an unfavorable image of your government, but we were hoping to learn how you feel about these struggles.

We created a short video and would like to set up a Skype discussion with you and your wife.

Here is our video:

Hoping to hear from you.

Sincerely,
The political and social changes class at Beaver Country Day School.