TWAICB Timeline: 2006–2013

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

An original production called The World As It Could Be – A Declaration of Human Rights, created by youth from three non-profit organizations that utilize the arts in their work, to dramatize the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Two live performances in San Francisco:
  • December 7, 2006 at the Presidio for convening of leaders of Presidio non-profit organizations and project sponsors
  • December 8, 2006 at Balboa High School assembly, as part of that School’s curriculum on human rights.
• STUDIO BayCat, a Rex grantee, videotaped the performance and produced DVDs
• DVDs distributed as a teaching tool for the International Convention on Human Rights, to project participants and sponsors;
• Video of the performance streamed on the Rex Foundation website

IMPACTS

• 20 youth involved in developing the performance gained knowledge of the UDHR and the experience of teaching adults and peers
  • A majority of the youth participated in the 2007/08 initiative.
• Audience of approximately 100 adults at the Presidio, many of whom vocalized new awareness of the UDHR
• Balboa student body of 1,100 saw the performance, demonstrating total engagement and appreciation of the material
• New collaborations among the participating non-profits

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Rex Foundation newsletter Perspectives on the Will to Change to explore Political Will
• An original production called The World As It Could Be – Where There’s A Will There’s A Way, created by the youth Performance Troupe of Destiny Arts Center, along with complementary creative elements overseen by 2 other Rex grantees, to explore exerting the will to manifest the words of the UDHR
• Pilot public school curriculum to integrate the creative arts to deepen the learning of the UDHR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• • Two live performances:
    • January 11, 2008 at Balboa High School, and videotaped by Studio BAYCAT.
    • April 14, 2008 at Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, CA.
      • This performance was a variation of the January 11th production, reflecting additional elements from the Destiny Arts Center’s 2008 programmatic work, called “Game Over: Escaping from the Dropout Factory”;
    • Produced a Chap Book of creative writings about human rights and political will developed by three Freshman classes at San Francisco’s Raoul Wallenberg High School, working with writing tutors of Rex grantee 826 Valencia;
    • Produced a CD of an anthem written and performed by youth of Youth Movement Records, another Rex grantee, in connection with developing the dramatization.
    • The CD was inserted in the back cover of the Chap Book and distributed to all the high school students attending the performances;
  • Produced a DVD that contains the two original productions of The World As It Could Be, along with interviews of some of the students involved in the performance and the Creative Production team;
  • Worked with Balboa High School to develop a pilot of public school curriculum to integrate the creative arts in the teaching of the UDHR, where creative arts activities were included in history, social studies and language arts classes dedicated to teaching the UDHR, followed by work to help the faculty and students present their own original production related to the teaching of the UDHR at a full-school assembly on December 10, 2008;
  • Introduced the draft pilot curriculum, performance DVD and Chap Books to San Francisco Unified School District and two more high schools in the Bay Area.
  • Invited to present workshop on the project at October 2008 Teachers for Social Justice Conference

IMPACTS

• Brought awareness of the UDHR to one of Oakland’s largest high schools.
  • Approximately 400 students watched the performance.
• Destiny Arts Center’s 2008 programmatic work, called “Game Over: Escaping from the Dropout Factory” was inspired by the Rex project, and focused on how the UDHR was a vehicle for escaping the “Drop Out Factory”.
  • Performed to audience of 2,500
  • Between March 2008 and January 2009, approximately 20,000 people saw excerpts of the show, including 11,000 at the Bioneers Conference
• Connected with approximately 100 students at Raoul Wallenberg High School to create the Chap Book.
  • The Deputy Superintendent of the SF Unified School District received the Chap Book directly from the high school as an example of innovative education.
• 826 Valencia displayed the complete Chap Book in their store, available to the public.
• New collaborations took place among the non-profits involved in developing the Chap Book and anthem CD.
• Published Rex newsletter Perspectives on the World As It Could Be to inspire thinking about the world as depicted by the UDHR.
• January 2009, East Bay Arts High School. presented their UDHR-based visual arts and creative performances to several hundred San Lorenzo middle school students, with the Principal discussing the significance of the UDHR to education and society as a whole.
• April 2009, East Bay Arts High School. presented weekend public performances of the plays about stopping violence, written by students as a result of studying the UDHR.
• January-May 2009, three freshman English classes at Arroyo High School focused on the UDHR and included an art project for students to express what they learned.
• January 2009, San Francisco Unified School District included as Unit 8 in their 3-high school pilot Ethnic Studies program, a learning service project on the UDHR, as a result of the Rex project.
  • The Unit has not yet been taught due to running out of time in the school year. However, in the 4 9^th Grade California History Classes involved in the pilot, students used the UDHR as their guide to understanding oppressions that took place from early California history to the current period.
• February 2009, presented 2 hour workshop to University of San Francisco graduate class on human rights education.
  • One of the students in that class quoted Ellen Sebastian Chang’s interview in the Rex newsletter as part of her final paper on stopping hate crimes in the LGBT community.
• April 2009, participated in the Human Rights Awareness Tour at Central Washington University, speaking to approximately 80 students, of which only 3 noted prior awareness of the UDHR.
• April 2009, Andrea McEvoy Spero submitted her dissertation proposal to the University of San Francisco School of Education with the title “Teaching Human Rights Through a Creative Arts Methodology: An Exploration of Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School”.
  • This dissertation will include full evaluation of the effectiveness of the Rex Foundation project.

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Continue pilot of curriculum with two high schools to refine curriculum and teacher training tools
• Create 3-Day Training Institute for August 2010 for teachers implementing the project in 2010/11 School Year in collaboration with the University of San Francisco International & Multicultural Department of the School of Education
• Develop Curriculum Materials based on pilot experiences
• Begin planning of original dramatization to convey the importance of the right to an education

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• On December 9, 2009, Juniors in the Future Leaders of Social Change Academy of Arroyo High School, San Lorenzo, CA, put on a Town Hall for the 300+ students and faculty of their Academy. On December 10^th, students from several different classes at Balboa High School in San Francisco, put on a full school assembly.
• Recorded the performances for DVD production and video presentation via the Rex website and other media
• Recorded reflection sessions with teachers and students involved in the Arroyo High School project to help evaluate the project and provide material for the project’s curriculum.
• Andrea McEvoy Spero initiated her pilot research for her dissertation on the project with formal observations at Balboa High School
• Held a special project dedication ceremony at Balboa High School, which included recording student and teacher reflections on the project
• Published first edition of the curriculum in April 2010
• Began to identify additional schools in the Bay Area to implement the project in 2010/11
• Presented curriculum at Boston Arts Academy Summer Institute to teachers and administrators from the Boston Public School District and beyond.
• Presented August 3-5 Institute with outstanding team of presenters to 20 participants from Bay Area high Schools and non-profit organizations, receiving highly positive evaluations.
• Developed project plan for “Lesson Plans”, an original production about the right to an education, to be collaboratively created by Destiny Arts Center and Youth Speaks, under the creative direction of Ellen Sebastian Chang, with planned public presentation for mid-January 2011
• Mandela High School in Oakland, CA implemented the curriculum in the fall of 2010, with approximately 60 students involved in the December 10, 2010 culminating presentation.

IMPACTS

• Students and teachers identified multiple benefits that resulted from involvement with the project in addition to learning about the UDHR, including:
  • Students that were otherwise less engaged in their academic work, demonstrated enthusiastic involvement in the UDHR studies that continued past the culminating presentations
  • Students noted they gained new understandings about how to be more open to differences, rather than forming opinions based on assumptions
  • Students in special needs classes experienced being part of the greater school community rather than being separated
  • Organizing for the culminating presentation encouraged higher levels of student performance than generally observed
  • Students demonstrated more positive social interactions with their peers and teachers
• Bay Area school administrators and teachers see the project as a positive addition and enthusiastically endorse being part of the August training institute and 2010/11 project implementation
• Curriculum very well received at Boston Arts Academy Summer Institute, with participants identifying how they will incorporate it in their schools and classes in 2010/11.
• Curriculum very well received at the August 3-5 Institute, with the 3 teachers from Mandela High School implementing the project in the fall 2010.
  • The Creative Arts professional presenters want to continue to be involved in the project, and a planning meeting took place September 10, 2010.
  • USF faculty seek to deepen the collaboration with the project.

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Present original dramatization to convey the right to an education
• Continue to distribute curriculum and identify professional development opportunities
• Identify strategic collaborations to raise awareness about the UDHR and to implement the curriculum

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• “Lesson Plans” was presented to the public on Thursday, January 20, 2011 at Laney College in Oakland, CA. The performance was recorded for wider distribution via DVD and video streaming.
• Began meetings with the Alameda County Office of Education Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership (ACOE) to develop collaborative project using The World As It Could Be curriculum as part of ACOE’s Professional Development Program
• Participated in collaboration with the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) and the California Film Institute (CFI), where CDS worked with 6 students from Mandela High School to create digital stories about human rights and the environment, with 2 of the stories presented at the February 17^th CFI Youth Environmental Forum.
  • Presented The World As It Could Be Project Information to the attendees
• Presented the curriculum at the March 4-6, 2011 California Council for the Social Studies Conference
• Participated in the March 18, 2011 Amnesty International USA (AI) Meeting of Human Rights Educators held in conjunction with AI’s General Meeting
• Invited to participate in Stanford University’s Program to develop human rights education curriculum for community college and high school teachers

IMPACTS

• The youth involved in developing “Lesson Plans” reflected the following during a debriefing meeting about the project:
  • Learning about the history of the UDHR and educational policy inspired them to take their own education more seriously;
  • They realized they wanted to look forward to their school involvements as much as they looked forward to the project work, finding the project work stimulating, educational, creative and fun.
  • The use of the creative arts helped them better understand the issues related to universal rights and education, as they had to interpret what they learned through movement, drama and spoken word.
• Destiny Arts Center incorporated segments of “Lesson Plans” in their Youth Performance Company 2011 Performance Project called “Free – Voices from the Curbside”. “Free” was presented to the public March 25-April 3, 2011, and will be performed at other public programs throughout 2011, such as the Bioneers Conference, reaching approximately 10,000 people.
• The Center for Digital Storytelling is continuing to work with Mandela High School students to complete digital stories about human rights and the environment
• The California Film Institute Youth Program wants to continue to collaborate with The World As It Could Be Project

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Have Curriculum address meeting standardized testing requirements
• Provide professional development sessions in the Bay Area and at least one other community outside the Bay Area
• Introduce curriculum in at least one nationally recognized model for successful education that address the “achievement gap”
• Establish a relationship with at least one additional university school of education to help train teachers on the importance of integrating the creative arts and utilizing the project-based collaborative approach of the Curriculum
• Have the video of the “Lesson Plans” distributed through on-line media
• Have the project website structured for effective utilization by project participants, as well as be an effective way to communicate about and distribute the project materials
• Connect with at least four strategic collaborators and/or organizations to raise awareness about the UDHR and disseminate the curriculum

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Published via the Rex website, the first essay to connect the UDHR to the current contributions of the musician Jorma Kaukonen to provide access to music to youth of Appalachia.
• Presented Curriculum to approximately 45 teachers and after school program leaders of the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City, with follow-up communications to plan for a fall 2012 collaboration
• Met with Executive Director of New York City-based Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility to plan possible collaboration in fall of 2012
• Have initiated planning meetings with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Education Department and Minneapolis-based Human Rights Advocates organization to identify collaboration opportunities for 2012-2013
• Began collaboration with the Alameda County Office of Education Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership and Destiny Arts Center to present 30-hour class on arts integration with The World As It Could Be curriculum the focus of the integration process
• Arroyo High School, Balboa High School and Mandela High School, each carried out culminating presentations on the UDHR, with committed efforts to implement the Program over the long-term
• Have initiated meetings with Studio BAYCAT to plan collaboration to raise awareness about the value of Public Education, along with the importance of integrating the creative arts as part of a quality education
• Met with Allida Black in Washington, DC to identify potential collaborators in different U.S. cities, as well as to be invited to submit the curriculum to the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), the primary reference site for educators across the U.S.
• Launched the new website for The World As It Could Be, that includes the ability for people using the curriculum to add their recommended updates
• Developed Strategic Plan to identify priorities for 2012-14
• Invited to help plan for and present The World As It Could Be Program at the August 2012 Conference on Arts Education presented by the Alameda County Office of Education
• Andrea McEvoy Spero, graduate student of the University of San Francisco’s International & Multicultural Department of the School of Education, successfully presented her doctoral dissertation titled “This is A Public Record”: Teaching Human Rights Through the Performing Arts, which has The World As It Could Be Program as its basis.

IMPACTS

• The Curriculum and overall work of The World As It Could Be Program have gained recognition by long-established leaders of Human Rights Education as valuable and unique in providing rigorous academic focus, along with the incorporation of the creative arts and culminating presentation
• The findings of Andrea McEvoy Spero’s dissertation, soon to be published, include the following positive impacts of the Curriculum:
  • Teachers can easily connect teaching the UDHR to their existing academic goals
  • Teaching the UDHR helps students who are dealing with significant social/economic justice issues better frame those issues and identify positive actions to address the issues
  • Through the creative arts and culminating presentation, students can amplify their ideas, have the opportunity to be the teachers/experts, and have a public record through which to articulate the issues, as well as their positive messages
  • Teachers have noted that working with the Curriculum fosters their own “joy of teaching”
• The teachers and other educators exposed to the Curriculum have consistently responded positively, with excitement about incorporating UDHR teaching as an important way to provide stimulating and meaningful educational experiences for their students.
• Balboa High School administrators noted that the UDHR and its tenets are now fully integrated as part of the school culture.
• We now have published research on the positive impacts of the Program, and the contribution the Program is making to human rights education pedagogy.

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Work with current schools to deepen impact of the curriculum
• Expand reach of curriculum to other cities and with nationally recognized models for successful education to address the “Achievement Gap”
• Provide professional development to focus on arts integration
• Deepen work with Stanford and USF to provide training to future teachers in use of the arts and on human rights education
• Continue raising awareness about the UDHR and its principles

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Oakland’s Mandela High School, which became part of the larger Fremont High School as of September 2012, began offering a full class based on The World As It Could Be (TWAICB).
  • The December culminating presentation was highly acclaimed by the Principal of the school, as well as the broader faculty
• Arroyo High School’s Future Leader’s of Social Justice Academy carried out two Town Hall culminating presentations focused on the UDHR, and continues to work with the curriculum and Rex to expand the reach of the program across the school, beyond the culminating presentation, to deal with such issues as bullying.
  • The Vice Principal of Arroyo noted that the UDHR principles are now a framework for the Arroyo school community.
• Carried out 3rd 3-day Institute with USF, with interest from USF in developing class that provides continuing education credits, and possibly a class within the regular course offerings
• Stanford University is seeking to have a multi-day training on TWAICB for the School of Education student teachers program
• Met with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Education Dep’t Program Director and Advocacy for Human Rights Executive Director to plan a 3-day Institute in Minneapolis in August 2013 to integrate the arts as part of teaching human rights.
• Met by conference call with the head of Teach for America curriculum planning and learned that TWAICB curriculum has been distributed across Teach for America offices.
• TWAICB curriculum was accepted by Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), the primary reference site for educators across the U.S.
• Presented at the Teachers for Social Justice conference in October, and received top scoring evaluations
• Met with Richard Carranza, Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, who has instructed his curriculum team to incorporate TWAICB across the district
• Received commendation from the San Francisco School Board on the accomplishments of TWAICB
• Gathering of the Vibes Festival invited Henry Sidle for 2nd year in a row to perform his now 2 original songs inspired by TWAICB.

IMPACTS

• The Fremont High School full-year class focused on the UDHR provides a model for similar classes across the school district.
• The Minnesota Institute provides the opportunity to bring the creative arts approach to human rights education to a new region
• USF’s continued interest in TWAICB provides the opportunity to create a full class on using the creative arts to teach the UDHR designed for schools of education.
• With the leadership of Teach for America distributing TWAICB curriculum, the opportunity to have the curriculum more broadly disseminated is now in place.
• Having TWAICB curriculum available through ERIC now makes it widely available to teachers across the country seeking resources for human rights education
• Having the leadership of the San Francisco Unified School District supportive of TWAICB provides the opportunity for broader distribution of the curriculum.

PLANNED INITIATIVE(S)

• Work with current schools to deepen impact of the curriculum
• Expand reach of curriculum to other cities and with nationally recognized models for successful education to address the “Achievement Gap”
• Provide professional development to focus on arts integration
• Deepen work with Stanford and USF to provide training to future teachers in use of the arts and on human rights education
• Continue raising awareness about the UDHR and its principles

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Presented at the California Teachers Association Human Rights & Equity Conference
• Presented at the California Council for the Teaching of Social Studies Conference
• Continued to work with Stanford staff involved in Human Rights Education to introduce TWAICB to the Stanford School of Education
• Finalized implementation plan to have the Alameda County Office of Education Integrated Learning present a 30 hour class, eligible for continuing education credit, on arts integration with focus on the UDHR and human rights education. The class will be presented at Balboa High School June 3-7, and a second class, already filled, will be presented the last week in June in the East Bay.
• Presented event on March 4^th at Balboa High School, featuring Frederick Marx, documentary film producer known for his film “Hoop Dreams,” to provide compelling information on the importance of rites of passage for youth, and to begin work on deepening the impact of TWAICB curriculum to address the issues related to violence and gun use.
  • The 25 attendees includes students, teachers, administrators, law enforcement representatives and non-profit leaders across the Bay Area.
  • The event was recorded and is now available on TWAICB website.
• Began work with Fremont High School and the Deputy Sheriff’s Activities League of Alameda County to follow-up on the March 4^th Balboa event, so as to utilize TWAICB to address the issues related to violence and gun use. Balboa follow-up work is scheduled for June 2013.
• On May 30^th, a planning meeting took place in Minneapolis to fully design the August 12-14 3-day Institute modeled after TWAICB USF Institute, bringing together local area artists to work with The Advocates for Human Rights and the University of Minnesota Human Rights Centers.
• Began planning of the 4^th 3-day Institute to take place at USF July 30-August 1^st.

IMPACTS

• TWAICB curriculum is now officially a part of the Alameda County Office of Education Integrated Learning department course offerings.
• The Deputy Sheriff’s Activities League (DSAL), with their leadership role in supporting youth in their region, which includes the San Lorenzo School District (Arroyo High School), seeks to use TWAICB to develop a community led initiation/rite of passage for youth, with the UDHR as the frame of reference.
• The Fremont High School students that were part of the UDHR class are now developing a video to document their work and provide guidance for the next full-year class to follow-up on the work associated with the March 4^th Balboa event, i.e. deepening work to address the issues related to violence and gun use that are too much of the reality of the student’s lives.
• The Alameda County Office of Education Arts Integration Department (ACOE) is interested in working with TWAICB to use the information presented at the March 4^th Balboa event to have deeper impact across ACOE social studies curriculum.
• The work being done in Minneapolis will now bring the use of the creative arts as part of human rights education to the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul region, and potentially beyond given the reach of the collaborating parties as they carry out their programmatic work.