Corey Louviere, a Fine Arts teacher and Janet Woodward, a Librarian, both at Garfield High School, have won a $10,000 grant from Qwest to curate an exhibit on the history of the Central Area in Seattle. Here is a summary of their winning grant proposal:
An ambitious photo exhibit project will engage Louviere and Woodward’s classes in an exploration of the history and culture of Seattle’s Central Area. Garfield High School, built in 1922, is one of many historical landmarks whose providence depicts a long, community narrative they plan to research. Students will document the multi‐cultural topography of the area, where six bus lines converge, and the rich diversity of its neighborhoods, commercial and community centers speak to the unique character of the area’s people and urban lifestyle.
In a series of field trips, students will photograph specific scenes, take notes and interview residents. Each student will select his or her best image for the exhibit and prepare statements that interpret the photograph and its context. Designed for peer review, project activities will have students develop rubrics that evaluate the quality of the images and the accompanying text, uploading their work and comments to a communal Web site. The best 20 photographs will be curated for public exhibit inmuseums, libraries and community centers and shown with an accompanying catalogue.
Louviere and Woodward have integrated academic standards from language arts, CTE subjects, the arts and media literacy. They feel strongly about the value of an inquiry‐based learning project. In their application, the teachers wrote: “The goal of this unit is to examine, identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation, and to plan strategies that guide inquiry, construct meaning and communicate information … [The project] incorporates instructional skill modalities that use oral, verbal, written and tactile methods for our diverse participants. Students…will engage in eachmodality individually — collaborating and producing a final piece by working at their own pace, learning from others and meeting deadlines.”
Bad mouse technique led to a two-star rating when I meant to give five! LOVE this project. Great idea, well conceived. Look forward to seeing the results and learning more about the neighborhood.
been there, done that. Gah.
This is great! Go, teachers & kids. Thanks, Qwest. (Never thought I’d be saying THAT.) Can’t wait to see results.
It would be great if we can welcome these kids during their project. If we pass the word on to our neighbors, I bet it will help them out. I worry that people might get suspicious if kids show up taking photos and asking questions in the neighborhood.