At a time when budgets are being slashed and art and music are on the chopping block, we are moving toward the arts to bring science and social studies, language arts and history to life in our small school for teen students on probation. Our students are at a fork in the road and traditional education has not been effective in helping them get on a college path. We are therefore designing learning experiences around projects that integrate the arts as a means of expressing what the students learn in the lines of inquiry their interests take them in.
Our students are urban California residents aged 13-18 who have histories of substance abuse and incarceration. These youth tend to reside in neighborhoods with high incidences of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, and crime, and are routinely faced with high levels of violence inside their families and in their immediate community. A disproportionate number are youth of color, particularly African American (57%) and Latino (31%). A recent review found that 80% were from single-parent low- income households; 47% have been in out-of-home placements including foster care and many have engaged in sex in exchange for money, drugs, or other goods. Many have limited life skills, minimal or no job skills, multiple health issues, and low self-esteem. Many are as much as seven years behind expected academic performance when they come to our school. The revolving door of the justice system is a reality for most; on average they have had five prior contacts with the juvenile justice system. The mental health disorders suffered by these youth include depression, compulsion, anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress, conduct disorders and inability to make healthy choices. Educational resources, employment training and services to address family violence, neglect, and other traumas were rarely available to these youth until they were caught in the cycle of the juvenile justice system.
We want to build curriculum around the questions, concerns and passions of our students. We want to offer state of the art technology and software and use this across curricular boundaries. If we are given adequate support I believe Youth Voices could be a significant step forward in our ability to capture the voices of these remarkable young men and women. Our success will be measured by how engaged students are in producing the films, music and visual art how well we have helped them develop the resiliency required for successful completion of their projects. If they can produce an effective documentary, the students will feel that they can achieve whatever they set out to do.
We have been working hard writing grants, partnering with Adobe Youth Voices, Bill and Melinda Gates and our greatest collaborator, YOU! through the amazing work of donorschoose.org. Together we can begin to give students that have not been successful traditionally in public schools, a real chance to make it through college and fully participate in our democracy.
Your donation to this project will provide students access to a Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet so that their drawings and graphic art can be incorporated into their media projects.
My students need a Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet.
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