During October 2025, Mount Carmel sophomores participate in a class project that turns reading into awareness. In conjunction with reading the novel Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn, students designed shirts to raise awareness about domestic violence, sexual violence, and teen dating violence. They then wore their shirts during the school day on October 29.

The project connects with October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month and aims to help students understand the real impact of abuse. The shirts feature facts, survivor quotes, and messages encouraging respect and awareness. English teachers Mr. Tim Baffoe and Mr. Eric Rodriguez led the project as part of their sophomore English curriculum.

“Domestic violence is a serious issue that affects people of all stripes,” said Mr. Baffoe. “It’s not something that is specific to race or class or religion. Anybody at our school can experience domestic violence or know someone who has.”

Breathing Underwater tells the story of Nick, a teenage boy who must confront his abusive behavior and learn accountability. Mr. Baffoe said the novel has consistently resonated with his students over the years.

“Every year, students tell me it’s the first time they’ve ever legit read a book cover to cover without pretending that they read,” said Mr. Baffoe. “Parents every year tell me that their sons are constantly talking about the reading that they did, and it’s the first time they’ve ever heard their sons talk about something that they’d read.”

The project does not just end with reading the novel.  Mr. Baffoe said the shirts act as “walking advertisements,” a way for students to take what they have learned from the book and turn it into something visible that encourages awareness and conversation throughout the school.

Mr. Rodriguez, who taught Breathing Underwater for the first time this year, believes the novel is challenging yet important to teach.

“Reading it was really tough,” he said. “Not physically, but emotionally. It was hard not to have resentment toward the main character. You can’t really escape the toxic masculinity. It’s everywhere, and there weren’t many redeeming traits, which made it a tough read.”

He wants one of the main goals of reading the book is to help students recognize how small, harmful behaviors can grow into patterns, and said the shirt project helps turn awareness into something visible and meaningful, so that people who see the shirts will think about what domestic violence is and learn that they can find help.

Junior Nicolas Lodato, who did the project last year, believes reading Breathing Underwater changed how he viewed abuse. The book gave him a perspective he had not really considered before.

“I was more shocked than anything because I didn’t see how a person could rationalize doing so many abusive things,” Lodato said. “So it was interesting and very shocking to me to see how that thought process worked out.”

Lodato’s perspective changed once he learned more about the experiences of real victims. The shirt project helped him see the connection between awareness and empathy.

“At first I didn’t see the point of it because I didn’t know what a shirt could do,” he said. “I think doing more research and learning about what people went through made me more motivated to complete it.”

Lodato hopes the projects help others find the courage to speak up.

“I think it’s important to have people know that there are options out there to help,” he said.

Current Honors English 2 student Hunter Hawkins has similar feelings about the importance of the project. During the design process, the shirt required both creativity and emotional reflection.

“It was a very enriching experience because I really had to dig deep,” he said. “I had to do the research and really get creative with my artistic ability, and writing on fabric is kind of difficult.”

The process changed how Hawkins viewed relationships and the hidden struggles people can face.

“I think it’s really important so we can bring awareness of what really goes on behind the scenes in our teen relationships, and so we can bring awareness to that and try to help victims,” he said.

Fellow Honors sophomore Bryce Daymond thought the project gave him a deeper understanding of how domestic violence affects people. Before reading the book and creating the shirts, he had not really thought about how complicated and personal the issue can be. Working on the project forced him to think about how trauma affects people beyond what’s visible.

“I’ve learned a lot about how it affects women and affects individuals on the mental side because a lot of people focus on the physical side,” he said. “A lot of it is really emotional and mental, and I think our shirts really help highlight that.”

Daymond believes the shirts make an impact by focusing on victims’ experiences rather than blaming them. They are a way to challenge how people talk about victims.

“A lot of times it’s common to focus on and blame the victim for getting into the situation,” he said. “The shirts highlighting the victim’s situation and how they were being forced into that situation help us better understand domestic violence.”

Other teachers who saw the shirts thought that even though the subject is painful, it means a lot to see students taking it seriously. For them, it is proof that education can reach beyond the classroom when students use what they learn to make others think.

“My heart goes out to the women, and I feel the students of the English teachers are really understanding,” said Mrs. Emma Norise. “That makes me feel good that they do understand. Maybe if they wear their t-shirts somewhere else, that would be something.”

Even if the messages on the shirts can not get to everyone, it is still important for people to know about domestic violence. 

“I definitely don’t think I can sway everyone,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “I do want students to just have a little more thought into the small things that add up to domestic violence.”