A selection of six schools in Washington, D.C. experienced the opportunity of a lifetime when they were the first in the nation invited to participate in the Rivers of the World program which was launched in the USA in January 2010.
“Rivers of the World is the art and education project of the Mayor’s Thames Festival. Produced in partnership with the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms program, and supported by HSBC Global Education Trust, the project links schools and over 2,000 13-14 year olds around the world through a common theme: their city's river—Students are encouraged to study their own river in the first year of partnership and their partner city's river in the second year,” said Alison Corbett, Education Manager at the British Council.
The schools in the D.C. region focused on the Anacostia River. The British Council opened an exhibition of the students’ art for Rivers of The World in Yards Park in November last year. Yards Park is a new development on the banks of the Anacostia River. The British Council chose D.C. public schools to be the first in the USA to participate in this project for a reason.
“Originally we could have chosen anywhere in the U.S., but schools in the nation’s capital were the obvious choice. We selected the Anacostia rather than the Potomac because the Anacostia is often seen as D.C.’s forgotten river,” said Aaron Fettgather, Education Policy and Partnerships Coordinator for The British Council. “We really wanted D.C. students to see the river in their backyard through a different lens.”
Fettgather explained why the Anacostia is the “forgotten river” of the nation’s capital.
“I believe it’s the overshadowed river,” said Fettgather. “Tourists are familiar with the Potomac River when they visit Washington, D.C. But there is another beautiful river that fewer people know about, which runs through less advantaged neighborhoods. There are more socio-economic issues in that area.”
There are six participating schools in the region, one of which is Columbia Heights Educational Campus where Mandy McCulloch is the art teacher.
“The students also got a chance to work with a professional artist,” said McCulloch. “A visiting artist came in and worked with them and that was a really great experience for them to see what some possible careers are and ways, as an artist you can reach out and empower youth and ways you can give back to your community. It was more about just learning about the river, it was about learning about different cultures and ways our local artists can impact our community.”
Making students “globally competent” is an endeavor which teachers at Columbia Heights Educational Campus take seriously, teachers such as Rasha Hashem who is the Catalyst and World Cultures Coordinator. Hashem explained the creative process in which the students were engaged.
“The high school students created a relief sculpture in the shape of mechanical gears that show the working river,” said Hashem. “Each group of kids represented their understanding of the working river and, in both science and history, sculpted a figure that either represented the biology, history or life of the river. Each gear symbolizes the “working river”—for example, one gear has a turtle, another has flowers, yet another Native American Indians, or animals, or buildings surrounding the Anacostia River.”
“The middle school students photographed activities from their everyday life and then the images were digitally collaged in a graffiti style design to form an abstract river,” said Hashem.
Students who participate in this program are expanding their horizons beyond the walls of the classroom and school building. Aaron Fettgather of the British Council describes the program Rivers of The World as an “opportunity to get some good stakes in the ground for international classroom collaboration.” He explained why the program is of great value to the education of today’s children who are tomorrow’s leaders.
“The ability for students to connect with people outside of their immediate community and outside of their locality is important,” said Fettgather. “Students need to collaborate with people in other cultures and languages. In terms of curriculum, this project is really hands-on. Students have the opportunity to learn and work with other young people thousands of miles away on the same subject matter, and it adds an international perspective to their education.”
Fettgather gave three reasons as to how this project will benefit students in D.C. public schools.
“I think there are several benefits,” said Fettgather. “It allows the students to really engage with a project which they probably wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to take part in. This is a unique project- it really brings the river to life. Working with schools abroad allows students to look beyond their immediate horizons and see there are other cities with a river history too. We would like students to be inspired to go outside their comfort zone and maybe do something they wouldn’t normally do. The hope is for them to really look beyond the perimeters of their immediate world and consider something new. There’s this whole world out there. We want them to ask themselves, ‘How can I be a part of that?’”
The students’ art work will be on display in Yards Park, Washington D.C. through the end of February 2012.
For more information on Rivers of the World and to see the students’ artwork, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcouncilusa/sets/72157628234201481/
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