A Youth-Inspired School Project

State of the Re:Union  would like to call attention to some commendable youths and their exemplary actions. These Detroit students were not satisfied with the way their community was being portrayed in both national and local media. It was not necessarily a bad reflection upon their city, however, they didn’t feel that it was entirely accurate. So, with the help and encouragement of their teachers, they decided to do something about it.

Source: http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/2754

According to the excerpt found on The National Writing Project – Digital Is Website, “We Want Our City Back” is a photojournalism project that grew out of students’ chagrin prompted by the media’s “biased” coverage. They felt that the heroes chosen by a highly-recognized magazine to represent Detroit was not enough. (You can read the original excerpt by clicking here.) So, taking this into consideration, these youths were asked to create a catalog of what they thought their community needed. After the list was compiled, focus groups were assigned photojournalism projects in the following topics, representing students’ concerns:

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• Raise Your Voice - Group attempted to combat negative “images” of the city via the media in print, photographs, discussions.
  
• Crime Fighters – Group looked at violence and other issues that students viewed as a crime, such as having a lack of health care, not having access to grocery stores within their neighborhood, or when faced with an emergency – having no emergency responders or a delayed response.
• Power in the City – Students presented both scandal and abuses of power, authority and trust, as well as ways that they thought power in the city could be redistributed.
• Building Bridges - Students looked at segregation in the city based upon race, class, gender, religion, age, socioeconomic status.

Source: http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/2754

After the assigned photojournalism task was finished, they created project boards displaying the photos they took depicting their thoughts and ideas. Resource binders created by these students further expounding upon their concern with the intent of educating others about the issue targeted by the project. With display boards and resource binders in hand, the student participants then went to a summit “where they interacted with invited speakers around the issues at hand.”

This project might not have yielded earth-shattering results, stopping the country in its tracks with all eyes on the Detroit community, but change rarely works that quickly. The most important thing that could have come from this project, did: Helping students develop critical thinking necessary to make a change within their own community. It also cultivated in them some solid reasoning skills, helped them learn what they want their city to represent, and made them aware that they can find solutions to issues. They now know – through experience – that inaction solves nothing, but critical thinking can help others understand what concerns are important to them. These photojournalism projects are an effectual way to disseminate concerns to others in their community and getting their voices heard.

There are so many ways for people to get their message out, but how is it done effectively? What are some other tactics used in your community to get people to actually listen and learn about important concerns? Use the comment section below – we would be indubitably delighted to know.

During a time of great turbulence in the Detroit Public School System, one school has been cutting through the urban education stigma. The Catherine Ferguson Academy of Detroit, Michigan has become a beacon in the school system’s bleak future. With a budget deficit of $327 million, a declining enrollment and graduation rate among students, CFA has given pregnant teens and teenage mothers a fighting chance at enjoying a promising future. Through a unique approach to education, the Academy has a graduation rate of more than 90 percent, with the young mothers seeking to achieve higher education. The school’s success is attributed to the caring environment provided by the teachers and a driving commitment that is spearheaded by the Academy’s Principal G. Asenath Andrews. In addition to being educated in core school subjects, supplemental lessons are teaching these young mothers so much more than the basics. CFA students are learning about agriculture firsthand  through keeping bees, raising farm animals and learning to grow a garden. The staff create an even more fertile educational environment through limiting class sizes and providing free childcare. This progressive school has aided in the success of teenage mothers through providing them an opportunity to become responsible citizens, in addition to getting them one step further to breaking a harrowing cycle.

The school’s success was a quiet, but powerful presence in Detroit until the city’s Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, put CFA on a list of future public school closings. With this decision darkly looming over the school, the community decided that a peaceful protest was the answer for helping keep this public school mecca alive. After assembling pickets signs, teachers, students and the By Any Means Necessary protest group, the city and our nation began to find out just how important and pivotal this program has become in the community. Some students and teachers, both current and former, were prepared to protest for several days, making accommodations for their children and themselves. However, soon after their protest began the Detroit Police Department asked them to leave the building due to closure. When they did not leave, they were led out in handcuffs where they were arrested, processed and later released.

Source: Lamiot

As this story caught the attention of various news media and forums, it also brought out the support of the UAW, a North American human rights union, and Hollywood actor, Danny Glover, who has been a longtime proponent of the vitality of public schools. Before the rally began, word was received that the school would remain open as a charter school. Mr. Glover was scheduled to be the feature speaker during the rally protesting the Academy’s closing and was adamant that education was a right for all, not an entitlement to a few. Although the school staying open is a wonderful thing, it is still not out of the woods. Due to the nature of charter schools being privatized, changes can be made to the curriculum, having a different outcome for future students. Many would like to see the school stay in the public school domain, but for now they see the open state of the school as a small victory.

To date, CFA plans to open the new school year on September 6, 2011, and has a few new tools to utilize in its educational efforts. Under the new charter company, the Academy will have access to new green house construction, solar energy projects, permaculture education, in addition to other educational tools. Principal Andrews remains committed to the future of the girls and the school and believes this is a “win-win” situation. You can read more about the school’s transformation on The Detroit News.

With the budget deficits consistently growing and the murky tides of our national economics having no ebb, schools around the nation continue to face the threat of closure. Funds for public schools are becoming more commonplace throughout our communities. Are supplanting public schools with charter schools the answer to providing our children with a quality education, and if so what are the ramifications that might be foreseen? If you have been impacted in any way by charter schools, we invite you to communicate your comments, thoughts or ideas.