Fight The Power

I love a good bargain and I love films. Once my first love, I always enjoyed viewing new films. I had gotten a membership to Showcase Cinema's Film Club and it entitled me to two tickets for two films every month. When I went looking for films to go see in North Attleboro or Providence (two closest locations in which I didn't have to go over a broken bridge), I noticed a documentary film premiering in Providence called 'Secret Mall Apartment'. When I looked up information about the film, it stated, 'In 2003, eight Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment inside a busy mall and lived there for four years, filming everything along the way. Far more than a prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all involved.'

Having lived in New England (mostly Rhode Island) since 1996, I remember hearing about this story and just had to go to see it. I clicked on two tickets for one of the opening night showings, in said mall (Providence Place) with a Q&A.

We left the film mesmerized. It was a funny, quirky, sweet story about a bunch of artists that would create temporary art and wanted to rebel against the gentrification of a city. I spent time thinking about some of the art exhibitions that they had in the movie, including the temporary Tape Art...and how it could relate to my classroom and school as a whole.

On Instragram one day, I noticed that Jeremy Workman, the director of the film, was looking for video/photos of the opening weekend for the DVD release. I reached out to him, which started a brief exchange about the movie and about him potentially coming to meet my class. He explained that he is based in California and probably won't be getting out back out to Rhode Island any time soon. He did mention that Michael Townsend, one of the subjects of the film, may be able to do something Tape Art related with the school.

I reached out to Michael and after a series of emails and Zooms with Michael and Leah Smith (his partner in Tape Art), we set up a time before school started to tour the school. We spoke about the school, the temporary swing space we were in, the delays in construction, the prison grey walls, etc. Michael and Leah left excited about a potential project and vowing to get back to me soon. I was thrilled about the idea of having the students create art on the walls and decorate the school in their own vision.

When Leah and Michael called a few days later, Leah had a new proposal. They kept thinking about the struggles with the new school, delays in construction, etc. and specifically a photo I had taken of my students during field day last year, in which I showed their backs looking towards the empty lot that currently held nothing but dirt...but was the place where all of their hopes and dreams rested. Leah said the City of Providence was giving them money to create an art installation at Providence City Hall. They wanted to do an exhibit focusing on the neighborhood that surrounded Oxford Street, with all of these homes and buildings waiting for a new school. They also wanted to work with our fifth grade students to build Tape Art figures of themselves that we would install on the fence around the old school to represent our students waiting for the new school to be built. I loved the idea and after getting all the proper approvals and even helping to edit press releases, etc (former life - marketing/PR) we were ready to go.

As a teacher, in an inner city school district, the differences between what I have and what my students have are never lost on me. I preach to them all the time about working hard and being kind (our two class rules). In a part-time, volunteer capacity, I am an Advocacy Team Chair for Breakthrough T1D. I learned in the last few years how to really use my voice as I reach out to Congressional Member offices and take meetings both at home offices and in Washington D.C. I want my students to be good humans and good citizens and when they see something that isn't right, I want them to use their voices in protest.

I prepped the class in advance of Michael & Leah's arrival. We spoke about rules and how we would be executing this project. We also discussed how important it was for them to represent themselves in their artwork so that people who drove by the school would know that they were the ones waiting for a new school.

When the day arrived, the joy I saw on these student's faces was undeniable. They were able to be creative, collaborative and funny. They were able to 'see themselves' represented in tape. They were able to see what all of their friends had done, not just in their class...but other classes too and make connections with other students through their art. I filmed and filmed and filmed. Took still photos too as I wanted to document their time working on this project based learning.

At the end of the day, Michael, Leah, my wife Melissa, myself and a handful of teachers from school met over at Oxford Street. We saw the empty lot. We saw the overgrown grass. We saw the garbage lined streets. We also saw magic as we started to install these pieces of art and saw the hopes and dreams of these students realized in tape art.

I thought back about the day and realized with all of the craziness of the day, that there was probably not one behavior call made down to the office that day. My suspicions were confirmed after speaking with Krystal. We both said it, engagement is the key to classroom management. If students care about their learning and are interested...they will be behaved.