Many Men: Media and Popular Culture
Edwards Middle School, Boston
This 7th and 8th grade elective at the Edwards was offered exclusively to young men during the 2007–08 school year and was led by staff from Project: Think Different, a Boston-based nonprofit that works on promoting positive messages about youth, gender, race, and ethnicity through analysis of media messages. The class focuses on the way that pop culture media affects boys and young men. Classes listened to the music Edwards students hear every day and analyzed the messages that are sent through music videos, magazines, and media images that represent young men of color in very limited ways. Analyzing hip hop media, the predominant cultural force affecting youth today, gave the students the knowledge and self awareness to create projects that promoted alternative, “solution-oriented” messages about young men.
Civics: Boston History
Umana Middle School Academy
This civics class was offered to 8th graders twice a week during the fall semester of the 2007–08 school year. It was led by two veteran humanities teachers who participated in a week-long summer institute for teachers with The Boston Museum that focused on incorporating “local literacy” into classroom teaching. Over the course of 20 weeks, 24 students traveled around their neighborhood and beyond to uncover the history and culture of Boston that isn’t usually included in text books. For their final project, the group researched and designed posters with interesting, little-known facts about Boston’s history. Advertisements made from these students’ posters were displayed on the Blue Line of Boston’s subway system in spring 2008.
Voices of Change: Leadership, Theater, and Making a Difference
Umana Middle School Academy and Edwards Middle School, Boston
Voices of Change is a 10-week apprenticeship to a mixed group of 12 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students participating in the Citizen Schools program at the Umana as part of their expanded school day. In partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, this course was also offered to a group of 6th graders at the Edwards in 2006–07. The class meets once a week for 90 minutes. Students explore issues of identity, diversity, prejudice, and race through a series of hands-on theater activities. For their final product, students create an interactive theater performance, which includes leading the audience through a series of thought-provoking activities designed to challenge and educate them about the power of unifying a diverse group of voices.
Adam-12 Safety Class
Salemwood K-8 School, Malden
The Adam-12 Safety Class is the result of a partnership between Malden police and the Salemwood School. Led by a Malden police officer who specializes in youth violence prevention, the class is designed to teach students about street and Internet safety; gang, drug, and alcohol awareness; and how to protect themselves against bullying. Thirty-five students attend three two-hour sessions over a period of six weeks. This class has helped students be prepared in case a dangerous situation arises and has also helped them decrease risky behaviors. As a result of participating in this class, two middle schools girls made wise decisions when confronted with a potentially dangerous situation. When the two girls were walking home from school one day, a car pulled over, and the driver asked if he could take their picture. When he started to get out of the car, the girls ran away. As they fled, they remembered the lessons from their Adam-12 Safety Club class and got the make, model, and license plate number of the car. They also remembered they were taught to go someplace safe, so they ran back to the Salemwood. The girls reported the details to the police and said that because they had attended the class, they were able to get away safely.
Girls Club Outreach
Greenfield Middle School, Greenfield
Fourteen 5th and 6th graders participate in this 10-week elective three days per week, which is led by a Greenfield Middle School (GMS) paraprofessional during the school’s afternoon enrichment and academic support block (called “Flex II”). Once a week, GMS students travel to the Girls Club, a local community-based after-school program, to work with two pre-school classrooms. The GMS students act as leaders and mentors to the younger children through activities like read-alouds and arts & crafts projects. On the days they aren’t at the Girls Club, the students prepare materials and plan activities for their visits. Designed to help build the leadership skills of students, this elective was conceived by a GMS paraprofessional who reached out to the Girls Club as a way to involve the greater Greenfield community in the expanded day at the middle school.
