On 11/10, the kids visited Mary Flannery and Kit Jenkins, the founders of RAW ART, a remarkable program which teaches art to kids and teens in Lynn, MA, as a way to help them stay on track and in school given the challenges they face in Lynn, MA such as high rates of drug use, violence and gangs. As expected Mary, Kit and RawArt was amazing and the kids absolutely loved all of it. They were so excited to see the incredible art that Mary and Kit's students have done. In addition, the kids shared their own drawings that they did the previous week which showed the challenges they face in and out of school as teenagers and middle school students at the Orchard Gardens school; they really did a great job with the drawings as well as sharing their feelings with Mary and Kit. We then got a tour of the studio and then did a really fun drawing exercise where the kids drew a sketch of another students face without looking down at their paper (try it with a friend...it's a blast and I am a horrible artist).
On 11/17 and today, the kids have been preparing for our WOW! on 12/15. They are working hard to pull everything they have learned together including importantly from our live interviews with our Heroes (Marzuq, Michelle, Annemarie, Scottie, Mary and Kit). They have done a terrific job throughout the class and Patrick and I have been so impressed overall with their seriousness and preparation most notably during our interviews. For the WOW!, we will have 10-12 minutes to demonstrate what we have learned and the kids will do most of it. They will kick it off with some short introductions / overviews of our classes, and then we will watch a video which will include statements about what they have learned about heroes, good journalists and what they would like to do to help others one day.
Next week we will have a dress rehearsal for the WOW!
