Category: SUPER

Today was all about connections for Team Super. Beginning with our prep for Brilla, we worked in small groups to polish our lesson plans and make them accessible and meaningful to the students we would be working with. Hopefully the students find the lessons as exciting as we do. Lunch was an adventure as we traveled into Midtown and met up with Alums Steve and Jillian. The treated us to a fantastic lunch where we got to learn about Steve and Jillian’s history with ASB. Their advice was refreshingly honest. They spoke to us as equals and told us about how their linkage to ABS did not end with their time at Lafayette. Steve had continued his work with ASB long after graduation and was changing his career path to be a better conscience citizen. Jillian, who now teaches at a charter school in Brooklyn, gave us an opportunity to speak to an educator before going to Brilla. She gave us insight on the students, community and lives we would be interacting with. Jillian was a breath of fresh air when it came to her honest and savy tips on how to best be helpers rather than saviors.

Speaking to Steve and Jillian gave us time to reflect on ASB as a program rather than our small group. We were able to see the lasting effect ASB and these trips leave on those who are apart of them. There’s a reason we chose to come aboard these trips and its because we want to do more than just live in this world. We want to help change it. The connections we shared with Steve and Jillian helped us push forward as group and really bond. Something about seeing two former ASBers be so invested in each others lives and service was inspiring. Their passion was contagious and as we set forth on our first day at Brilla, I can only hope we are half as passionate with our work as they are with theirs.

After our first team breakfast, everybody gathered to watch a short clip about changing education paradigms. The video followed an engaging group discussion about what could be improved about the education system and how students should be sorted based on their ages, ability or interests. All team members agreed that learning should be made more of a collaborative and not isolated experience where students are not treated like manufactured products but like promising individuals. The discussion emphasized that non-academic did not mean non-smart.
Even though the members have already warmed up to each other from daily interactions like traveling and cooking together, we played group bonding games like human knot. It was more strenuous than any of us expected but we finally succeeded in getting closer to each other, literally.

The visit to the Studio Museum in Harlem inspired a heartening discussion about the stereotypes the Black population have to endure, even in today’s times. The team’s favorite was “The Jerome Project” where Titus Kaphar tried to personify the repercussions of imprisonment of the overrepresented African American population with tar. The team leader pointed out how Muhammad Ali’s poem “Me, We” conveniently summarized what we, not only as individuals but also as a team were trying to accomplish on this trip.

It was my first time watching the “Freedom Writers” and I finally realized what the hype was all about! Discussions about the movie covered topics like the difference between white supremacy and white ally, striving to earn respect from students, communicating with them the true purpose of education etc. Acknowledging the problems with the education system and blending in all that we learnt, we discussed the best ways to teach students of different levels of competency.

One thing is for sure, none of us can wait to meet our students and finally begin teaching!

After beginning our second day in New York with a short video (Changing Education Paradigm) and untangling a human knot, Team Super headed to The Studio Museum of Harlem. Out of all the exhibits, I found a piece entitled “Me, We” to be the most intriguing. It featured neon lights with the words “Me” and “We” mirroring each other. To me, this piece represents how each individual is part of a larger community. Every “me” is part of a larger “we.” I think the exhibit relates very closely to ASB’s mission of creating community awareness and civic engagement. It is important for us as individuals to remember that we are part of a larger community and that all of our actions impact the greater community in some way. Following our museum visit, the team watched the movie Freedom Writers, a powerful story about a high school teacher who was able to create a passion for learning among struggling students in an urban high school.

Tomorrow, we get to meet two Lafayette ASB alum. I’m so excited to hear their stories and see the lasting impact that ASB has had on their lives. I’m especially looking forward to meeting one of the alum who has experience in both public and charter schools in NYC. It will be interesting to hear about the differences between the two types of schools.

I’m really looking forward to finally getting to Brilla on Tuesday. After months of preparation, we are finally here! The team worked really hard creating our “in-school field trips” and I can’t wait to see the plans come to life!

Today our team settled into our accommodations at a hostel in Queens, grabbed a bite to eat, and immediately dived into an education component of our trip! We took a trip to El Museo Del Barrio in Spanish Harlem and gained a deeper appreciation and understanding of hispanic culture. Many of the art pieces in the gallery expressed the dissonance between the oppression and poverty experienced by much of the Latin American population in New York City and the great beauty and heart that can still be found in these communities.

The trip set the tone for our reflection later in the evening, as we discussed what we know of the challenges that face urban education, what we hope to learn, and what we’re looking forward to! I personally am really looking forward to meeting the kids that we’ll be working with at the charter school and speaking with the school’s staff and administrators. It seems like the school is really committed to emphasizing the importance of education, so it’s excited that we’ll be able to aid in their effort to foster a love for learning.