https://vimeo.com/18393740]
A dozen tiny hands shoot up in the air. Bodies shake anxiously in anticipation as their mouths emit sounds of “Ooh!” and “Memememe!” One such small body is chosen to answer. As his smile widens, “Cold liquid?” the young boy asks, searching for some sort of approval before giving his final answer.
“Yes,” says Christina Dubb, executive director of Fairhill-based Spells Writing Center. “You can find cold liquid in the freezer. How else can you describe freeze-pops?”
Again, the hands pierce the air like a dozen tiny rockets all launching at the same time. The sounds and the shakes return, filling the room with the kind of buzz only found in an active classroom. These kids aren’t in their usual five-day-a-week school. They’re in a room on the second floor of Moore College of Art and Design.
Spells Writing Center has been offering workshops around the city since their inception over a year ago. On this Saturday afternoon, the organization is running three workshops: one here at Moore, one at their “HQ” in Fairhill and one at the Rittenhouse Square Barnes and Noble.
Of all three programs, only one has a room full of volunteers from area colleges like Arcadia, Temple and Moore itself. These students, from the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Artists, sit with the children and guide them through the creation of their own personalized neighborhood map. The kids sit at the tables attentively, waiting for their partner to make the first move.
“One of my graphic design teachers asked me if I wanted to help out,” says Tyler School of Art student Justin Morris. “Just spend time with another kid, help introduce them to art and writing.”
The program doesn’t just enrich the lives of the children. Morris motions toward his pre-teen counterpart across the table, saying, “I’ve had a good time hanging out with Regina. She’s really funny too.”
“Regina,” is Regina Wilson, a 9-year-old participant in the workshop. Regina is funny, explaining what she and Justin have been working on with smiles and laughs, barely getting the words “Guitar Hero” out of her mouth before laughing with the young girl sitting next to her.
After some initial work with the volunteers, the children’s maps are ready to go. While Regina’s map is focused on her favorite music simulation video game and extended family members, other children focus on things as diverse as shoes, fire hydrants and even freeze-pops.
The name tags attached to both participants and volunteers read, “This is my Philly,” the name of the program meant to help children foster a sense of pride and love for their own neighborhood. The map is only the first portion of the program, before the magazine pages start flying. The next step, a collage, is where the college students will come in handy.
“I have a huge background in art education with kids,” says Amie Zimmerman, a volunteer from Arcadia University. “I started as a lifeguard and because of that I became a swim instructor. I was in art, so then I was an arts and crafts teacher. I teach drawing workshops at the Mutter Museum.”
As Zimmerman speaks, her partner for the day, Phoebe, stands in the corner with the other participants searching for pictures to put on her collage. The children look at magazines one second, and turn around for snacks at the next.
“Her favorite thing is shoes,” says Zimmerman. “So we’ve been writing about the shoe store and her favorite restaurant, stuff like that.”
As kids draw and color, you can see their brains begin to work overtime, thinking of some sort of words to put into their poem.
Dubb stands in front of the room at the white board; she encourages the kids to think of words to describe their favorite things.
“I feel like I got to really know your neighborhood,” she says. “Think about your favorite things. Now think, ‘How would I explain those?’”
Spells, as an organization, began at a critical time in Philadelphia education. While the national average of adults lacking basic literacy skills hovers at 14.5 percent, the most recent number for Philadelphia is almost eight full points higher at 22 percent.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy 2003 survey, used to create the statistics, identified four levels of performance. In Philadelphia, 22 percent come in at below basic, which includes being unable to “understand basic information.” The need for an organization like Spells was largely unaddressed.
“It’s a very new organization, we’re moving very quickly,” says Spells Grant Development Committee member Lynn McKinley. “We’ve done a lot of things, made a lot of partnerships in the community and it’s all towards helping kids to find their voice, express themselves and be creative with words.”
“Today is a dry run for a larger project that we’d like to do,” says Dubb. “The AIGA is really focused on showing the positive sides of Philadelphia, getting rid of the idea of Philly being a violent city.
“We’d like to get kids to come for about a year,” she continues. “Once a month, and then put out a publication at the end of it.”
The instructors ask the kids for words to describe the freeze-pops. “Cut grass,” one child says. “Yummy” says another, inciting a polite laugh from most of the room, children and adults. Dubb suggests and explains more advanced words like crystallized to the kids. Some kids look confused at this foreign word on the white board; others look intently.
As a brief slide show featuring works by Picasso is presented, eyes are widened at the sight of the art, maybe thinking “That? Even I could do that?”
“It’s funny,” says McKinley. “You think when you go into a situation or environment where you’re teaching or showing, that the kids are going to benefit from you. The reality is that you, as a teacher, benefit from them. What they discover, you rediscover.”
She pauses briefly, her eyes almost blank in thought.
“The things you didn’t know about yourself,” she emphasizes. “That you find out in that moment. Then, everything is possible.”
Is good to know that they are teaching something more to our kids… the school is important