The Things We Carry, The Things We Put Down: Personal Meaning-Making in Communities

Educator: Pam Gustafson, High School Librarian and Academic Specialist

Cultural Partner: Laura Yacoubi, Museum Educator and Multidisciplinary Artist 

School: Brentwood High School

Grades: 9-12

District: Brentwood Union Free School District

District NYSED link: https://data.nysed.gov/profile.php?instid=800000037066

Summary‍

This project used the exploration of art and artifacts to connect high school students to ideas of identity, memory and community through artmaking. 

Students were able to write their own stories and create their own narratives which were amplified through self-exploration and ideas of belonging. Students used their personal stories to connect to history through hands-on artmaking and curation.

Rationale‍

Students are 9th through 12th grade and range in ages – some are 17+. This group tends to not be “typical” ages, some older than grade level and at different stages of development. They need ways to connect to the community; additionally, these students often do not get any arts coursework beyond Studio Art due to course constraints

What learning goals/standards did this meet?

Arts:

Create: Generate, conceptualize, develop, and refine new artistic ideas and work.

• Perform, Present, & Produce: Select, analyze, interpret, develop, and refine artistic work for conveying meaning and sharing with others.
• Connect: Relate and synthesize knowledge and experience to investigate ways that artistic work is influenced by social, cultural, and historical context and in turn how artistic ideas shape past, present, and future cultures.
• Work from text, objects, visual materials to curate a symbolic community
• Museums/galleries/libraries as essential cultural places in everyday life
• Vocabulary: curation, symbolism, meaning-making, expression, museum

CCCR:

Personal Choice in College & Career Development: 

Connect overlapping skills and relationships among personal, academic, extracurricular, and work activities.

• Civic Mindset: Demonstrate understanding of self as part of and responsible to larger social society through democratic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and informed actions for meaningful participation in civic life.
• Possibly using google arts/tech etc to help students access online info, etc.
• Vocabulary: museum curator, arts educator, community project, civic engagement 

CR-S: 

Welcoming & Affirming Environment: 

Contribute to shaping an environment that welcomes and allows unique expression of identities, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs

• High Expectations & Rigorous Instruction: Hold high expectations for all in an academically rigorous setting by encouraging positive self-image and personal empowerment 
• Restorative Justice circles 
• Inclusive Curriculum & Assessment: Elevate historically marginalized voices by exploring power and privilege, biases and inequities, and decentering dominant ideas and voices.
• Ongoing Professional Learning & Support: Develop and sharpen a critically conscious lens toward learning and teaching through assessment, history, culture, institutions, and self-directed growth.
• Vocabulary: self-image, empowerment, cultural norms, personal identity 

Outcomes

Students’ learning has expanded as a result of this project because now they…

KNOW…  how  and why museums are curated / public memory developed/maintained

UNDERSTAND…  ways that personal stories fit into the history of their school community’s story

ARE ABLE TO DO… write about their experiences/memory, develop a personal art piece, situate themselves in their local school community and see the value of their contributions