STORY NO.

25

Art Jump Off!

by John Giordano

Our plan

Art Jump Off! is an after-school art program at a middle school in Dorchester, Boston, MA. It is a choice-based program where sixth through eighth graders can pick from five different art areas every time they come to the program. They can decide to stick with one thing -- like clay -- or jump around from week to week from drawing to video to mixed-media. Any student from Frederick Middle School can attend. The program is taught by college students from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Now in our third year, Art Jump Off! is jumping. Besides providing a place for middle school students to explore their creativity, Art Jump Off! also supports students in the application process to Boston’s high school for the arts, the Boston Arts Academy. The three schools involved decided that a lot of student choice in addition to the support of caring adults could create an environment where young people could grow personally, socially and artistically. We met a number of times and sought funding to make this happen. Supported by a local Boston foundation, the program was designed to be flexible enough to grow with the interests and needs of the participants in mind. This is a case where a local college sought to help a middle school provide more arts experiences, and as a result, we are helping middle school students make solid choices around high school attendance.

What we did

A college course supports the college students in shaping the program’s curriculum and the nuts and bolts of program administration. The middle school staff, including the out-of-school office and one art teacher, help link the program to the kids. A bus takes the college students to the school each week. Art Jump Off! is taught in the school’s two art rooms. The ratio between teachers and students is 1:2 and sometimes 1:1. The school’s principal feels that this kind of 1:1 attention is one of the most important benefits to the middle school students because it can’t happen during the school day.

Our results

We have given middle school students a place to come to be themselves -- to work and play, to feel valued and to be supported during the time of day (after school time) when they generally make decisions for themselves. We are helping them decide if an arts high school is right for them, and help them get there by introducing them to the arts, to high school students, teachers and the high school itself.

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Community Collaborative for Youth
Chico, CA