Friday 15 May 2009

Job Hunting, Teaching, Charter Schools

I haven't posted in a while, so there's a lot to catch up on.

First, my dreaded and fruitless job search '09 ended thankfully at the end of March, when I was given the opportunity to work at Renaissance Charter School in Queens.
My good friend (with whom I attended high school) is an English teacher and administrator at the school. Every year, the students participate in Rensizzle, a week-long intensive group project where students form focus groups and present their work at school assembly.

I was called upon to assist the music teacher, Everett Boyd, and his students, who had elected to write, produce, and perform their own music - all culminating in a full-length album engineered and mastered by the group! The school actually uses the two music sequencing and recording programs i am most familiar with - Reason and Nuendo by Steinberg, so i felt at home teaching students the programs and giving pointers to others on music composition, recording, mixing, and producing. I had a blast... and these kids can really play!

The music lab really blows me away. Imagine attending a high school where you learn Reason and Nuendo in music class, and are free to write, sequence and record your own music! This would be a dream for me back in the day, and it's a pleasure and a privledge to be able to teach kids this stuff today.

Which brings me to my next point... Charter Schools! This is what makes a program like this possible - small public schools started by teachers and activists and parents who simply want more for their kids - smaller class sizes, more creative academic curriculums, and the freedom to exist "off the grid" in relation to zoned public schools who must answer strictly to Department of Education guidlines as far as how to run a school. I'll be posting more on this in the near future, as it is a very charged issue which has brought about a lot of interesting debate... all of which i find myself deeply rooted in and concerned about since I started working at Renaissance.

Since that week, I have been on board helping Renaissance in the beginning stages of opening up their sister school, the Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation.
I am the resident graphic designer, creating logos, branding, business cards, brochures, postcards, newsprint, letterhead, and web design! Been pretty busy.
I usually work at the school, but I don't have an office, so I just float around with my laptop, in the cafeteria, library, classrooms, etc. I even have a locker.
I just recently finished all of the visual propoganda for this meeting.

We're trying to dispell the myths about charter schools that have been circulating amongst city council members and parents of traditional zoned public schools here in NYC... and there is definately a lot of myth.

More to come soon!

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