http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismueller78/6768104963/

Educators and Artists:  GO TO THE LINK!!

Creating Rooted Youth

My World

My world is a mix of The Boggs Educational Center and Detroit Summer.  I am more passionate about rethinking education than anything else.  With complete devotion, I work with the Boggs Ed team to build a place-based charter school determined to open as soon as possible.  The mission of the BEC is to nurture creative, critical thinkers who contribute to their community.  What does that mean?  It means caring for and valuing our youth.  It means providing and creating environments where residents can live out their dreams!  It means creating safe, engaging environments that extend from deep within our hearts into local communities and beyond. It means knowing our neighbors by first name.  It means celebrating reading and developing a love and a comfortability level with print all around us. It means building relationships and partnerships with local organizations and individuals. It means engaging our seven year olds by allowing groups of kids to use math and science skills to design and build benches from piles of wood from old Detroit buildings, so that our grandmothers have a place to sit when they walk down the street.  Because in my dream vision-grandmothers are walking down the street!  Do you know why?  They are walking down the street because kids who attend The Boggs Educational Center, kids who are 6 year old, have prepared a luncheon for our families and elders in the community who have taught us so much.  We love them, and we want to prepare the food we have grown.  Science is taught every moment and our children are discussing real problems in our lives and finding solutions that work.  I believe in our youth and I know that our children are desperate to find refuge in a school like this.  Why will this school be so successful?  Because its rooted in love.  Because we collaboratively problem solve.  Because we have fun.  Because we practice critical analysis and inquiry.  They have built strong relationships and developed a solid plan rooted in loving, righteous ideologies and philosophies that are committed to educating Detroit’s children in meaningful ways that will follow and support our young people from very, very young to very, very old.  We care about making our communities better.  Detroit Summer and the BEC share values.  Jimmy and Grace Lee Boggs planted the seeds that have sprouted from both gardens. Detroit has a story to tell and I am happy to be a part of it. 

Detroit Summer LAMP murals

Vision for the project...vision for the project...vision for the project?  The Boggs Educational Center will be a place-based community charter school that aims to nurture critical thinkers.  We already have a website.  Go to: www.boggseducationalcenter.org.  For my major media project I would like to have developed tools and ideas to improve and expand the capabilities of our site.  I love what has already been created.  Ben, our web guy, is AMAZING!  The vision for my project is to put things in place on our website to create more internet traffic, to develop our blog, and to learn how to use the site as a tool for recruitment.

Ideas for the project...ideas for the project...ideas for the project?  Creating tabs? A parent resource tab? A link to twitter and facebook?  A photos link?  A youtube link?  Can someone in the video class make a video for our site?  I'm willing to link up with a video person to collaborate, any takers?  A youth resource tab? Music?  Art? An option to view curriculum? The option to click on something and hear a poem? An online fundraising strategy?  The ideas are a work in progress.

I am planning to investigate the functionality of other community/place-based schools websites.  I'm planning on investigating transformative education.  I'm planning on researching and learning more about the demographics of the area we plan to settle into.  I want to investigate marketing and advertising techniques.  All of these things will help us grow the site.  When these 20 weeks are over, I will continue to develop and maintain our website.

In order to complete my project, I'll need to learn the skills to do what is stated above.  What is that, programming?  I don't even know the technical terms!  Web development skills?  I need to learn how to add text, tabs, links, video, audio, and graphics.  I'll need to know how to put information on the site.  I need to know how to add facebook and twitter links.

The Boggs Educational Center

Orientation Writing Prompt

Orientation Writing Prompt

What is your vision statement for your major project?

What ideas do you have for your major project?

What are you planning to investigate and how does it support your vision of Detroit’s Future?

What media skills do you need/want for to complete your major project?

loving detroit