IS 230 Photo Class Creates a Visitor's Guide to Jackson Heights

26 Apr 2011, 11:20 AM by keith, Middle School

The students from IS 230's after school photography club have been working with teaching artist Elise Rasmussen to produce a guidebook for their Jackson Heights neighborhood.  Students have been exploring the unique and diverse aspects of the community through neighborhood walks to shoot pictures for the visitor's guide.  They have broken up into a staff of "departments" that are each responsible for content pertaining to a specific aspect of the guidebook, such as attractions or restaurants.  The departments will also write brief articles to go along with their images, and everything will be compiled into the book celebrating and documenting Jackson Heights.  Each student will receive a printed copy of the visitor's guide in May.

Recently, the group went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to examine the work of photographers Steiglitz, Strand and Steichen, as well as the museum's displays of contemporary photography.  Students each took inspiration from one of the pieces they viewed, then went on an outdoor shoot in Central Park to capture an image in response to the piece they studied.  

Additionally, these young photographers have been developing skills for being professional artists, such as editing and titling their work, and creating their own artist statements.  Elise and the students have maintained a rotating display in the school over the course of the year so that students can share their work with the school community.

Media Lab Screens Typecast at the Third Annual Health Fair!

15 Apr 2011, 1:11 PM by frank, Urban Arts MediaLab

On March 17th, Media Lab Students Martin Collado and Joshua Diaz traveled to The Bushwick School for Social Justice to present "Typecast" during the Third Annual Health Fair 2011. The fair gathered health organizations from across the city to speak out on various medical issues from HIV prevention, (Make the Road NY) to asthma, obesity and teen development, (Wyckoff Hospital) to birth control and relationship counseling (NYC Department of Health). 

After presenting the documentary, Martin observed and took notes on Joshua's moving presentation, warning students about the health risks of eating the 'easy' foods and what they can do to prevent having health issues. Bushwick has the highest concentration of citizens with type 2 diabetes, the highest mortality rate of people with type 2 diabetes. Joshua opened up about the availability of healthy foods and gave students tips on how to stay active, even while living in a borough with the 2nd lowest amount of park space and as a result, one of the unhealthiest populations in the city. 

After the Q&A session with Joshua, the students were asked to come up with their own call to action and make health pledges to keep themselves and their families healthy and in shape, some of which included: 

My personal call to action is to eat healthy and run 3 times a day.

My personal call to action is to warn my family about the dangers of diabetes and what to do if they need help.

My personal call to action is to tell my dad to eat good food because he has diabetes and to tell people about it and work out.

Afterwards, Joshua received a certificate for participating in the health fair and getting the word out on the risks of diabetes.

Stay tuned for more news as "Typecast" continues to make waves in the health and documentary film worlds!

IS 230 Visits the Met to Research Masks from Around the World

13 Apr 2011, 5:18 PM by keith, Middle School

Students from the after school mask making and sculpture program at IS 230 in Jackson Heights recently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to study masks from the museum's collection.  They examined masks from Oceania, Africa and the Americas, and even saw some contemporary masks made of recycled materials.  Students made sketches of masks that intrigued them, and will use them as inspiration for their next mask projects. 

“We came to see the masks to get some ideas for making another mask.  I noticed details and other things that stood out, and then made some sketches of what I saw.  I want to paint some of the ideas I saw onto a mask I made, like how a painting I saw had different colored shapes and designs.” – Carolina, 6th grade

“We saw masks that had very deep meanings, especially one head ornament I saw.  I liked that it’s very creative and decorative.  I was flabbergasted by how creative it was.” – Tasfia, 6th grade

“I liked seeing the masks and the paintings.  I’m going to take some ideas from the masks and use them on my own stuff.  I want to make a mask with eyes that stick out like the one I saw at the museum.” – Kelsy, 6th grade

“I’ve been making sketches of masks and found some parts I like to use to make my mask.  I liked looking at the pictures and sculptures.  My favorite was a sculpture that was made of bicycle parts.” – Charlie, 7th grade

Students with teaching artist Beto Sepulveda outside the museum

Students and Beto in front of their in-school display of their mask projects

Students working on independent mask and sculpture projects in paper mache

IS 237 Learns Samba

12 Apr 2011, 11:01 AM by keith, Middle School

Students from the after school dance program at IS 237 in Flushing, Queens recently went on a field trip to participate in a Samba dance class led by and instructor from the Djoniba Company at the Peridance Capezio Dance Center.  This semester, they have been exploring various dance styles from South America that have African influences, and they have been developing a new dance piece that incorporates movements from various cultures to be performed in May.  This was a great opportunity for the students to build on their after school work in a professional dance setting.

"The class was very interesting because we learned something new and it was very energetic." - Carla, 7th grade

"It was a good experience.  I liked the steps because they were really fast, and it was also fun." - Samrhiddi, 6th grade

"We learned steps from a different culture & it was extremely fast!  We all messed up at one point, but as we did, we learned new things and had a lot of fun!" - Minah, 6th grade

Original Historical Drama at MS 258

12 Apr 2011, 10:18 AM by keith, Middle School

Since November, the after school drama program at MS 258 Community Action School has been working with teaching artist Brendan Boland on developing an original historical drama, which they recently performed at the school for family, friends and the community.  Entitled "The Dark Side of Salem," the play is a realistic protrayal of the events of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in the late 1600s.  Students researched important events and people from this dark time in history, and started by writing monologues about various characters.  They then worked collaboratively to write, revise, cast and rehearse the play.    

After their dress rehearsal, the cast gathered to reflect on their performance and disucss what they felt they did well and what they wanted to improve upon for their next performance.

Following their evening performance for families, the cast participated in a Q&A with the audience to discuss their inspiration and creative process.  Everyone also talked about their viewpoints on what morals can be learned from the play and how the themes the play explores are still relevant today.

“Our play is about people trying to deceive other people.  I hope people that see the play would learn to always stick to your own path.  Don’t follow the flow of what other people are doing.  Stick to your own opinions and choices.” – Roger, 7th grade

“It was scary and I was nervous, but once we warmed up, everything was good.  I was most proud that I knew all my lines and that the play could teach people some lessons that they could take into the real world.” – Shyla, 7th grade

“I was scared to play my character because she is a strong character and does some nasty stuff.  She’s a really big liar, and people are killed because of her lies.  I think everybody did great.  Every line came from us and we worked really hard.  The lessons of the play are that you should not lie and don’t go along with something if you know it’s wrong.” – Anayess, 7th grade