support the LEAD program (Literacy Intervention for Adults in Detention) through the website http://popcultureclassroom.org
Verbatim feedback from students:
"This is my favorite class." We've heard this no less than 15 times over the past three months.
"Thanks so much for taking the time to come and work with us. It's great." I've heard this at least 10 times from various inmates.
"Wow, the students seemed really engaged today. Even the guards were looking in through the windows, watching the art lesson, saying it was cool." - 1/25/16, from Ginny, program director for the women's programs at BCSO jail.
My own opinion, after four months:
Our class in unique in that we cover literature, creative writing, reflective writing, writing mechanics, artistic styles, and artistic methods... as well as history and politics (Maus-- second world war and Nazi policies, especially related to their impact on Jewish citizens, and Silence of our Friends-- civil rights and black/white relations in the 1960s in Texas). We have also built in a significant aspect of self-reflection for the inmates, through utilizing writing prompts and creative assignments to explore their own personal histories and challenges. This latter aspect is also explored weekly in our conversations.
Star students:
Round 2-- Danny. He invested significant time in both the writing prompts as well as his final project, which was an entire illustrated story which he bound and presented in colors as a book. The story's theme dealt with a fall from grace and losing sight of one's dreams, followed by hard work, leading to a major life change that results in personal empowerment and redemption. His final writing work was chapter one of a creative writing project with a young high-school student as the protagonist-- focused on life at school and gaining the attention of the girl that's caught his attention-- but his life is altered when bitten by an insect being used for research while on a school trip to a laboratory where the weapons and defenses of various animals and insects are being studied and used to clone a super-predator with many of these attributes combined...
Round 3: JJ is the most talented student we've seen, both in terms of depth and detail in the storyline, as well as in illustrations. One of his big works is in response to the prompt: "I need to speak to a human!" which is still being developed, but currently runs six pages with dozens of detailed illustrations. A second creation of his, in response to the prompt "Tell a Dog Story", is a quirky, inside-out retelling of "Of Mice and Men" mixed with "Old Yeller", in which a similar plot to "Of Mice and Men" is retold from a dog's perspective. Jacob is expresses gratitude towards us after every class for offering the class, which has allowed him to explore and develop talents which he hadn't accessed for years. (His material could/should be considered for inking and publication.)
Liam is a new student who joined us last week. He was nervous about taking the class due to no experience drawing-- he stated simply that he had never drawn-- anything-- in his life. He is 19 and his main goal is to be a decent parent to his son, who is three months old. I wasn't sure he would return to the class this Monday due to his repeated claims that he couldn't draw and just wasn't any good during the first class. He did return yesterday, 1/25, however, and was very excited about the book "Ghostopolis." He had read it three times through over the weekend and enthusiastically jumped into our discussion of all aspects for the book. He appears very excited to continue with the class, and I noted much less self-critical remarks during this second class as he engaged in Dion's assignment related to the anatomy of the human body.
thx!
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