Dear L.A. Ethnic readers, for the past few weeks I've been reporting on a new arts program in South Los Angeles. I though it would be nice to share with you the concept of using art in schools to teach business, self-expression and public diplomacy.
Introducing Room 13:
This is by no means your average middle school classroom and surely not what you can recall learning in your pre-teens.
Going beyond teaching students about the significance of arts as a means of expression, Room 13 is giving South L.A. youth an opportunity to become entrepreneurs.
Students participating in this innovative arts program are responsible for raising their own money to fund the salary of a resident artist and to buy art supplies.
The initiative, which has been imported from Scotland, is to create a sense of ownership of the classroom and to give students the ability to control their learning.
In South Los Angeles, James Foshay Learning Center students have begun an arts initiative that LAUSD has never witnessed before.
Room 13, a student-run art program initiated in a low-income area of Scotland, has been adopted by the L.A. youth.
“The vision is very simple: student directed, student led, student managed and student financed,” said John Midby, the instructor of Room 13 at Foshay.
Foshay was the first school in the U.S. to adopt Room 13 in January of 2008, after being selected by a local non-profit organization as a distinguished school that can benefit from the program.
“When I was at Foshay working on another project one of the students told me that her and her classmates are different from students at other schools because they know they have to try harder in order to succeed in their community,” said Tom Coston, president of the Light Bringer Project, an organization working with Room 13.
“So when we were deciding on which school would be the best fit for Room 13 we knew Foshay could handle something that consists outside of the curriculum that isn’t standard –we needed a brave school and they delivered,” he said.
Though Midby is technically the teacher of the period that offers Room 13, he said he allows his students to steer the class in whichever way they please.
“I find that most of the time I’m just the cheerleader telling them that what they’re doing is really cool,” he said.
Room 13 differs from the conventional middle school art class because the structure of the classroom is decided by the students. Aside from the room and the teacher’s salary, which are covered by LAUSD, students have to develop a business model to fund the pay of a resident artist and the art supplies.
“One of the greatest things about the program is that it doesn’t cost the school any money,” Coston said. “It just creates its own momentum.”
As a self-sustainable class, students have put fundraising ideas into action by selling holiday cards, designing their own t-shirts and selling alternative food and snacks at lunchtime.
Simultaneosly while raising funds, students have to negotiate deals with the resident artist to settle on a salary that is reasonable for both parties.
“They had a conversation and gave her an offer then she told them
what she wanted and so the students made a counter offer,” Midby said.
“The students are going to be paying her monthly with a bonus and she's going to be here for the room13 periods.”
Though it is ideal for Room 13s around the world to have local artists participate in the program for free and use the room as his studio with students as apprentices, Midby said, this isn’t common in the program.
The artist works alongside students and acts less like a mentor and more like a fellow artist who is in Room 13 to exchange ideas, skills and experiences.
Currently the program exists in more than 24 schools in countries including Scotland, England, South Africa, India, and Ukraine. Each Room 13 has a different set up, whether it be the number of students in the class or the class’s choice of theatre instead of fine art.
At Foshay, there can be as many as 40 students in a Room 13 period.
“Most of the other room 13s of the world are done at schools that have 400 students or less. We have 3,000 students at Foshay; the physical size of this makes us a different animal.”
Students who are enrolled in the Room 13 class are mostly participants of the Neighborhood Academic Initiative at USC, which is a program that creates a pathway for middle school students to get into college.
“The Room 13 program is helping students develop they’re knowledge of other cultures and is teaching them out-of-the box thinking that will help them in college” said Kim Barrios, director the Neighborhood Academic Initiative at USC.
One of differences students noticed when students researched the program was that there was hegemony in Room 13s abroad, where students in classrooms in Scotland are usually all white and Scottish, a contrast to the composition at Foshay, Midby said.
“When I showed the students pictures of what they in Scotland consider
to be a dumpy area the kids didn't really believe it because they didn't see enough graffiti,” he said. “It's sitting next to a lake, it's really beautiful, I know in Scottish standards [Fort William] is considered a poor place near consul housing but that has been some of the only cultural disconnects.”
Room 13, a student-run art program initiated in a low-income area of Scotland, has been adopted by the L.A. youth.
“The vision is very simple: student directed, student led, student managed and student financed,” said John Midby, the instructor of Room 13 at Foshay.
Foshay was the first school in the U.S. to adopt Room 13 in January of 2008, after being selected by a local non-profit organization as a distinguished school that can benefit from the program.
“When I was at Foshay working on another project one of the students told me that her and her classmates are different from students at other schools because they know they have to try harder in order to succeed in their community,” said Tom Coston, president of the Light Bringer Project, an organization working with Room 13.
“So when we were deciding on which school would be the best fit for Room 13 we knew Foshay could handle something that consists outside of the curriculum that isn’t standard –we needed a brave school and they delivered,” he said.
Though Midby is technically the teacher of the period that offers Room 13, he said he allows his students to steer the class in whichever way they please.
“I find that most of the time I’m just the cheerleader telling them that what they’re doing is really cool,” he said.
Room 13 differs from the conventional middle school art class because the structure of the classroom is decided by the students. Aside from the room and the teacher’s salary, which are covered by LAUSD, students have to develop a business model to fund the pay of a resident artist and the art supplies.
“One of the greatest things about the program is that it doesn’t cost the school any money,” Coston said. “It just creates its own momentum.”
As a self-sustainable class, students have put fundraising ideas into action by selling holiday cards, designing their own t-shirts and selling alternative food and snacks at lunchtime.
Simultaneosly while raising funds, students have to negotiate deals with the resident artist to settle on a salary that is reasonable for both parties.
“They had a conversation and gave her an offer then she told them
what she wanted and so the students made a counter offer,” Midby said.
“The students are going to be paying her monthly with a bonus and she's going to be here for the room13 periods.”
Though it is ideal for Room 13s around the world to have local artists participate in the program for free and use the room as his studio with students as apprentices, Midby said, this isn’t common in the program.
The artist works alongside students and acts less like a mentor and more like a fellow artist who is in Room 13 to exchange ideas, skills and experiences.
Currently the program exists in more than 24 schools in countries including Scotland, England, South Africa, India, and Ukraine. Each Room 13 has a different set up, whether it be the number of students in the class or the class’s choice of theatre instead of fine art.
At Foshay, there can be as many as 40 students in a Room 13 period.
“Most of the other room 13s of the world are done at schools that have 400 students or less. We have 3,000 students at Foshay; the physical size of this makes us a different animal.”
Students who are enrolled in the Room 13 class are mostly participants of the Neighborhood Academic Initiative at USC, which is a program that creates a pathway for middle school students to get into college.
“The Room 13 program is helping students develop they’re knowledge of other cultures and is teaching them out-of-the box thinking that will help them in college” said Kim Barrios, director the Neighborhood Academic Initiative at USC.
One of differences students noticed when students researched the program was that there was hegemony in Room 13s abroad, where students in classrooms in Scotland are usually all white and Scottish, a contrast to the composition at Foshay, Midby said.
“When I showed the students pictures of what they in Scotland consider
to be a dumpy area the kids didn't really believe it because they didn't see enough graffiti,” he said. “It's sitting next to a lake, it's really beautiful, I know in Scottish standards [Fort William] is considered a poor place near consul housing but that has been some of the only cultural disconnects.”
"create a sense of ownership of the classroom"
ReplyDeleteI was a little unclear as to what exactly you meant by this. Creating a sense of ownership as far as helping instill a business mind in the students (of private ownership) or helping create a sense of community in the classroom? As you can probably tell, they're two contradictory notions.
I'm glad to see that this Room 13 program is starting to see success in LA's inner-city. My sister used to be a part the Teach for America program that was also intended for the inner-city schools. This program would place those wanting to become teachers in the these schools to develop their experience with teaching.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my sis used to always tell me how hard this was because she hadn't had any experience teaching yet. Furthermore, it was extremely difficult because of the socioeconomic factors which came with teaching in the inner-city. Specifically, it was helping children who had fallen so far behind but were still advanced because the school didn't have the funds to help them that they passed them along with the rest of the kids. Also it was helping the many with no family or troubled family-life such as the kids with parents who had substance abuse problems. All the same, it motivated her to do the best she could to help but sometimes it just wasn't enough to combat the challenges of poverty.
I'm sure Room 13 is facing some of these problems with all of its success and I hope they will be able to make it work for the all the schools in LA's inner-city. These educational challenges in these areas are very important and need much attention because of the struggles they face. I am glad they are starting to think outside the box for solutions. These problems have been neglected for too long now. I look forward to see what happens with this program. Please update if you can. Well done!