AFTER SCHOOL SHOWCASE

December 12, 2019 3-5 PM

Because Belonging is so important to feel secure and confident in a safe space, it was the central theme of our 8- week unit. Exploring Belonging allowed for investigation and expression of social-emotional skills, building a sense of self in relationship to others, and development of an understanding and appreciation for differences in one another in their larger community. Students explored their place in relation to one another, the school, their families, and their community. Because students come from different places, backgrounds, and traditions, we engaged with diverse artists and practices to reinforce that all artists belong and should contribute their ideas to benefit our world. This unit focused on learning to appreciate the uniqueness and forming a creative community by acknowledging differences as an asset. Through a series of projects, students created work to express themselves, collaborated as a class of individuals, and explored the stories that make up our community of learners.

Given 8 weeks with this exceptional group of students called for some way of being able to show what our time together had yielded. Together we thought it proper for family, friends, and students themselves to see their work in a more formal setting of a museum like showcase. My co-teacher and I spent the earlier week with our students gathering material, documenting our project descriptions, and interviewing each artists on their work statements. This asked students to take responsibility for their creations and ownership of their time spent in this afterschool program. When it came time for the showcase, we were able to pull of an incredibly quick and incredibly fruitful show. If there is one thing more that we could have used, it would have been time. But without this element we were still able to display the work of each student, categorize and collect each genre of project together, and set up an interactive element being the welcome banner which students could decorate in between socializing and viewing their work. It made me proud to see their parents and caretakers snapping photos of their work and asking what each project was meant to mean. I am proud of the final product we were able to display, the belonging each student was able to experience one way or another, and I look forward to the work of each one of our student artists as well as the work of my fellow educator and I.