The First Year 2006 - 2007

In our first year Arts, Literacy, and The Classroom Community (ALCC) built upon the foundation of the Planning Project. The success of the Planning Project led to the expansion of ALCC to the Monroe Correctional Facility, in addition to the Monroe County Jail.  The goals, refined as part of the Planning Project, are:

  • To reinforce basic literacy and New York State English Language Arts Standards;
  • To develop strategies to motivate the reluctant learner;
  • To develop critical and analytical thinking skills;
  • To develop a culturally relevant English Language Arts curriculum;
  • To expand horizons;
  • To develop a sense of self, well-being, and community belonging;

The first year, building upon the structure of Planning Project, ALCC had three components:

  • Project-based, arts integrated classroom component;
  • Professional development component
  • Research and curriculum component

At both the Monroe County Jail and the Monroe Correctional Facility, the project-based, arts integrated classroom component consisted of three self-contained modular units, each with a self-contained curriculum designed to meet the needs of a transient population. In the first unit at both sites four classes of students / inmates worked with writer, scholar Dale Davis. In these units Davis worked with the students / inmates reading and discussing lesson plans researched and written for the unit, studying the themes in the literature presented in the lesson plans, discussing assignments, and writing. The student / inmates wrote in response to the assignments and revised their writing for a CD and for publication on http://www.nyslc.org/studentwriting0607.htm

At both sites, the second modular unit built upon the writing the students / inmates did in the first unit. The four classes of students worked with musician and engineer Jeremy DeGroat learning music software to teach them to use the latest technology to compose original music for their writing. A CD was recorded following the second module. The CD will be released in December 2007. Several pieces can be heard on http://www.nyslc.org/

In the third modular unit at the Monroe County Jail, the students / inmates worked with spoken word artist and actor Lemon (Andrew Anderson). Lemon, who was incarcerated in his youth, has the most aired episodes on HBO’s Def Poetry and was an original cast member of Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon at Monroe County Jail (Photo: Katharine Sideknik)

The students / inmates wrote and revised spoken word pieces, rehearsed their presentations, and performed at an evening performance attended by all students / inmates, sheriff’s deputies, teachers, and fifteen invited member from the Rochester community who have supported The New York State Literary Center’s programs. Following the performance the sheriff’s deputies had a reception in honor of the performance. At the reception the invited guests from the community spoke with the students / inmates about their writing and the performance.

In the third module at the Monroe Correctional Facility, Teaching Artist Ted Canning worked with student / inmates to learn the basics of steel drum band music and to put music sections together into a sequence. The students / inmates learned ensemble drumming, found instruments, introduction to steel drums, and steel drum band music. The performances may be heard http://www.nyslc.org/steeldrumband.htm

David Inocencio and Will Roy of The Beat Within in San Francisco http://www.thebeatwithin.org/news/ introduced students / inmates and teachers at both sites to The Beat Within and conducted writing workshops in all the classes stressing the importance of writing and publication. Will Roy told of his own experience of working as an editor for The Beat Within following his release from being locked-up. Issues of The Beat Within are sent regularly to support the work of ALCC.

The number of students / inmates in the classes varied at each site for the three modules and within each module, as the amount of time the students were in both the Monroe County Jail and the Monroe Correctional Facility was determined by the justice system, arrest, awaiting, trial, serving a sentence. Approximately 160 student / inmates participated in ALCC’s first year. Average attendance for the student / inmates at Monroe County Jail was eight days per module. Five students / inmates participated in the three modules at Monroe County Jail and approximately twenty students participated in two of the modules.  At Monroe Correctional Facility approximately fifteen students participated in the three modules.

The Professional Development Component consisted of sessions for Teaching Artists on an overview of The New York State Literary Center, ALCC, arts integrated learning, and Rochester City School District’s Youth and Justice Programs by Dale Davis, Executive Director of NYSLC, and Margaret Porter, Program Administrator, Rochester City School District’s Youth and Justice Programs, both members of ALCC’s Steering Committee; a tour of Monroe County Jail and an introduction to working in a correctional setting by Edward Ignarri, Director of Rehabilitation, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, and a member of the ALCC’s Steering Committee; two planning sessions at the Monroe County Jail with the teachers participating in ALCC. Three members of the Project Team also attended Empire State Partnership’s Summer Seminar http://www.espartsed.org/index.php. The professional development experience included one day at Island Academy, Rikers Island with Principal, Frank Dody, and Assistant Principal, John Curtis experiencing first hand the impact of arts integrated learning in Island Academy’s classrooms.

ALCC was featured at the 2007 NYS Association of Incarcerated Education Programs conference http://www.nysaiep.org/ At the conference this year, Frank Dody and John Cates Curtis (Island Academy at Rikers Island); Sydney Blair, Ron Carter, Michael Blake, and Sean Turner (Passages Academy, New York City); Donnielle Rome (Queens Museum, Queens); Edward Ignarri (Office of The Sheriff, County of Monroe, Rochester), Margaret Porter (Rochester City School District, Youth and Justice Programs, Rochester), and Dale Davis (Executive Director of The New York State Literary Center, Rochester) formed the NYS Arts In Correctional Education Network (NYACEN). The network, housed in The New York State Literary Center, grew from discussion of common concerns. Its mission:

  • To develop a support community and a network of resources;
  • To facilitate dialogue and collaboration among arts organizations, artists, and correctional education programs;
  • To support artists and arts organizations with the knowledge and training needed in order to better serve correctional education.

The research of NYSACEN supports the goals of ALCC and it enables ALCC to greatly expand its research base and professional development for Teaching Artists. 

NYSCAEN came together in December 2006 at the offices of Pressure Point Films (http://www.pressurepointfilms.com/thehiphopproject.html) in New York for a screening of “The Hip Hop Project” with the film’s star, Chris “Kazi” Rolle.  This screening led to Chris “Kazi” Rolle’s and Robin "Kheperah" Kearse’s screening of “The Hip Hop Project” at Monroe County Jail. The screening and ensuing discussion with the Chris “Kazi” Rolle became the heart of ALCC this year.