The fight over teaching evolution versus creationism has a long history in the United States. Perhaps the most famous case is Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, or the Scopes Monkey trial, the 1925 case in which the state of Tennessee prosecuted a public school teacher for teaching evolution in his classroom.
The debate continues today. In 2008, Louisiana passed the Science Education Act, a law that allows schools to use supplemental materials in addition to textbooks in science classrooms, particularly when teaching about controversial topics, such as evolution and global warming. Critics argued that the law allowed teachers to promote creationism in the classroom.
Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Zack Kopplin was just 14-years-old when Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Act into law. But in the last few years, Zack has made it is his mission to repeal the law and end the teaching of creationism in Louisiana public schools.
Zack is now a sophomore at Rice University, and he discusses his work against creationism in Louisiana and beyond.