This past Friday, three of us from our group went to Martin Middle School with high hopes of collecting our cameras. It was interesting for me to step foot in the school and see it functioning on a school day. The architecture is unique and hard to navigate. You walk into the front door and the school office is difficult to find. There is a "courtyard" in the middle of the school that even though brought light in, gave a cold feel to the school as you were overwhelmed with the look of bricks and bland, unmarked hallways instead of colorful displays like in most schools. I also thought it was interesting how the kids had uniforms at this public school. The collard shirts they were allowed to wear were either grey, black, or white. The color scheme to me seemed very dull and depressing. There seemed to be little encouragement of creativity which makes me worried for these students. The view of bricks, the school SRO, and the color palette of the uniforms made the school seem rather depressing rather than a celebration of learning or school spirit. I think they should change their uniform colors to at least the colors of the school that will help brighten up their environment.
The reason I think all this is important is because our project that we are implementing expects the students to be creative with their photojounalism. Creativity is kind of like a muscle. Kids in creative environments exercising their creative outlets can create things more organically. In conclusion, I wonder and worry for these kids if they are getting setback not only by the changes and inconsistencies in the Holly St. area but also in the lack of enthusiasm and school spirit of the school itself. These setbacks might reflect in the creativity seen in their photos. I guess we will see Friday once we get the photos developed.
Below is a video from my trip this past summer that puts into words my ideas on creativity and the importance of creative environments (the statements are near the end of the video).
http://vimeo.com/75185658
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/75185658" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/75185658">Meraki Creative for DSIC/DEC</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user21174845">Meraki Creative</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Kasey: I really couldn't agree more. I love your take on the school, its environment and the importance of creativity in our lives. So thankful you have been part of this project and your great ideas regarding making the photojournalism fun! You are an asset to any team.
ReplyDeleteI think I have to say that the way that education is structured often doesn't leave much space for children to be creative, but I haven't thought that even just the building of the school itself and the colors would not facilitate creativity for the children. Like Greta mentioned, it was a great observation that you made on your part! I'm excited to see how those photos turn out! Will you be able to show some at the presentation? I hope so!
ReplyDeleteHi Kasey, I really agree with what you write and I think that going to the school was very important. We now have a concrete idea of how the school functions and we are more aware of why this project isn't working as we would wish it to work.
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