“I hope the voices of my students read loud and clear to everyone, just like they do to me.”
We caught up with Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse partner teacher Amy Dickerson to discuss the book’s process, some surprising moments, and what she hopes readers take away from her students’ book.
1. How did the concept for this project come about?
During the controversy surrounding the removal of the statues last spring, I wondered what my students would think if they had a say in the process. Generally, I think people don’t give enough credit to kids, and I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to express their views of what they thought was important to New Orleans and to them.
Ms. Amy and published writer Boris at the Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse publishing party and reading.
2. How did you introduce this project to your students? What were their initial ideas for new monuments/thoughts on the project?
We started the project with reflecting on our own identity and generating adjectives to describe ourselves. Students studied the artist Nick Cave, who creates wearable pieces of art called Soundsuits that express his identity and views on social justice. My class created their own Soundsuits to match their adjectives and send a message through their art about their identity. After that initial step, it was easy to introduce the removed monuments, what they stood for and meant to people on both sides of the argument for and against them, and students truly understood why they were removed. We then took the idea about identity one step further and began to think about the identity of New Orleans by asking, “How can we, as citizens of New Orleans, express the identity of our city through new monuments?” and generating ideas for cultural touchstones that would project the positive identity they wanted.
3. Where there any surprising moments during this project?
There are always surprising moments in the classroom, and this project was no exception. I was so thrilled to see how much my students cared about this project and how important they felt it was. Watching them take ownership of their particular subject, be excited to research, and find a new appreciation for something in their city, was incredibly cool as a teacher. The most surprising moment, though, was when they saw their book for the first time. I’ve never seen so much genuine excitement and pride in my years of teaching, and I’ve noticed that even now, months later, many of them carry their copy of the book around with them or keep it in their desk to read when they have a spare moment.
4. How did your students come up with the title?
Because students had already come up with adjectives to describe themselves, we took that idea and decided to brainstorm adjectives to match our monument ideas. They created a list of at least 25 adjectives total, and we then slowly brought it down to our favorites, as the students shared why they thought certain adjectives matched our book better than others.
5. What do you hope readers learn or take away from Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse?
I hope, first of all, that the voices of my students read loud and clear to everyone, just like they do to me. The removal of the Confederate monuments should have happened long ago, and I hope that the sincerity of the ideas in the book come through to readers, as well as an understanding of the kinds of things the kids in this city value.
Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse is available for purchase here.
Foreword to History Between These Folds: Personal Narratives by the 11th Grade at George Washington Carver High School
During the spring 2017 semester, the junior class at George Washington Carver High School in New Orleans’s Ninth Ward worked with Oxford American contributing editor Kiese Laymon to write History Between These Folds, a collection of essays published in partnership with Big Class, a nonprofit organization focused on youth writing.
“Writing it was hard,” wrote the editors in the book’s introduction. “We had to open ourselves up and be vulnerable. We had to find just the right words to help people feel and understand the things we go through every day. We had to tie in our personal histories. And we couldn’t help but consider what people would think of us when they read our stories . . . Through this journey we learned we all have different voices, but we came together for one goal: to let people hear our stories and to tell the world about us. Yes, we are in New Orleans, but we are more than the stereotypes that come to mind when you think of The Big Easy. We are rare and powerful. Through this book we will make you laugh, we will make you cry, and we will challenge the ideas you may have had about us.”
Laymon wrote the foreword to the collection, reprinted below.
Eric Parrie teaches history at G.W. Carver Collegiate Academy. Recently, he gave his students a broad writing assignment: tell the story of a meaningful moment and just tell it as powerfully and beautifully and in as detailed a way as you can….
This year, Big Class has had the privilege of partnering with Tulane Small Center for a total renovation of our Writers’ Room at Sylvanie Williams College Prep! Read on to see photos of the renovated room, press about Tulane Small Center, and a Q&A with both Professor Emilie Taylor and her students.
Read & watch more about the project:
Read more about the project on The Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design’s Website.
Read a Q&A with Professor Emilie Taylor and a few students from the Design Build class:
Q&A with Design Build Manager, Emilie Taylor
What is Tulane’s Small Center, and how did you get involved with Big Class?
The Small Center is Tulane School of Architecture’s community design center – we advance community-driven ideas through collaboration, design education and scrappy problem-solving. Once a year we have an open Request for Project Proposals, where community-based groups in New Orleans write to us with ideas about design projects they would like to pursue. Last year Big Class’s proposal for a writer’s room at Sylvanie Williams was one of the projects chosen for our spring semester design build project! What that means is that a team of 13 architecture students has 15 weeks from the first conversation/interview with Big Class In-School Programs Manager Ashely Teamer to having a complete built project.
In what ways do you think this project affected students to be better architects and members of the design community?
For many of our students this is the first time they are working with a client, which is a big moment for them – it’s also the first time they have a budget, first time making something with tools, and often the first time their design ideas are being built and having real-world consequences. So there’s a lot to learn and a lot of pushing against comfort zones in that bundle. The students have to learn quickly how to communicate, collaborate, and be creative problem solvers. My hope is that the engagement with Big Class staff and their students as well as discussions about design process and access to design that are happening throughout the semester make the students think more critically about what they do, who they do it for, and how they each can be a force for good and design equity in their corner of the world.
Q&A with Students from The Design Build Class
Tell us a little bit about the creative process for this project. What did you learn by visiting the Writers’ Room, and how did you determine the final design?
Camille: In visiting the Writer’s Room, I learned a lot about the general mood of the class, like what the kids are interested in, what sort of things they would like to see in a space and what sort of things they wouldn’t enjoy. The Big Class kids that we interacted with were a funny, creative, and sometimes crazy bunch, and talking with them made me think they would enjoy a playful, vibrant space.
Paula: Visiting the school gave us the chance to talk to the teachers and the students about what they would like to see in the space and get some one to one feedback. This preliminary studies helped us narrow down to a few key needs and wants for the space which we carried through to the final product.
What were your favorite parts of working on this project?
Camille: I had a lot of favorite parts of this project. One thing that was great was working with an actual client, and having my first experience with a client be such an easy, collaborative one. Big Class was awesome, they were communicative and excited and I think that having this being my first interaction with a real client was a really positive experience. Building off of that, not only was it awesome to have that interaction, it was also awesome to be able to make something for someone and watch them see a little dream realized. Seeing the reaction of our final design felt really, really good, it felt like we had done our job and served Big Class well, and I can’t wait to see what the kids think.
What were some of your biggest challenges when working on this project?
Paula: I think one of the biggest challenges we faced were building the actual structure, because no matter how many times we drew it and planned out how everything was going to work something wouldn’t quite work out the way we had hopped.
On the occasion of the 2017 NBA All Star Game in New Orleans, Big Class, the 826 Network, and Cartoon Network collaborated on a special Mini Camp for 24 New Orleans elementary school students, focused on the intersections between coding and storytelling. Using 21st Century learning skills, students created original stories that they transformed into interactive animations using Scratch. Final animations were shared during a special presentation to the NBA community on February 16, right before All Star Weekend 2017 in New Orleans.
We’re so excited to announce the completion of IT’S LIT: Words on Ice!
Made in collaboration with the Arts Council of New Orleans and students from The NET Charter High School, It’s LIT! recently made its grand debut at the Art + Place forum at studioBE.
It’s LIT! was born through a paid 6-week design internship with 4 students from The NET. This project challenged students to think critically about the environments that they and their peers occupy and come up with a design that provided a safe space for New Orleans youth to come together and be creative (not to mention enjoy a sno ball).
It’s LIT will be making appearances at events throughout the school year as a mobile writing center/workshop space — bringing creative writing opportunities to youth around the city. Stay tuned with the Big Class blog and newsletter for updates!
Big Class is excited to begin a collaborative project with the Tulane City Center to redesign and renovate the Writer’s Room at Sylvanie Williams College Prep.
The Writers’ Room acts as a space for students in 1st to 7th grade to be creative, work with volunteers, and ultimately publish a book of student work.
We can’t wait to get to work with the City Center and create an even more wonderful Writer’s Room.
