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 forThe
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. The professional
development experience included one day at Island
Academy, Rikers Island 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, representatives from Island Academy,
Rikers Island; Passages Academy, New York City; the
Queens Museum, Queens; the Office of The Sheriff, County
of Monroe; and the Executive Director of The New York
State Literary Centerformed 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: