FY23 WHEELS

Jul 17

Written By Ben Houghton

FAST FACTS

School Name: Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School

Location: Manhattan, NY

Programs: Drama Club

Participants: 15

Duration: 2 hrs/week, after school, year-long

Teaching Artists: Luis Mora

Partnered with BAE since: 2022

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS (click on the photos to learn more)

KPOP Broadway field trip & guest artist workshop

Peter Pan Goes Wrong on Broadway field trip

IMPACT REFLECTION

If our first year at WHEELS could be summed up in a phrase, it would be “safe space”. What started as a drama club with only two students quickly grew into a co-created safe space for 15+ young people engaging in musical theater, film making, spoken word, field trips, project based learning, singing, performance opportunities, and community building. At the beginning of the year, through a series of surveys and conversations, students expressed not only a desire for a drama club, but also “cool experiences to make them feel special.” WHEELS students shared needing a space to talk about issues that affect their lives as teens, especially in regards to their gender and sexual orientation journeys.

Safe spaces not only give students safety from discrimination and harassment, but have immediate and long-term benefits. According to 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health led by the Trevor Project, LGBTQ youth in queer affirming spaces like schools and community centers were less likely to attempt suicide when compared to LGBTQ youth who don’t have access to these spaces. While these spaces may center LGBTQ identities in some ways, all participants benefit from a trauma-informed approach.

In response, BAE cultivated a safe space for students to explore their identities, receive generative, non-punitive feedback, and establish what safety and community mean to them.

At the close of the year, students reflected in post surveys and conversations that participating in BAE programming helped them reclaim a sense of childhood that felt lost largely due to the COVID-19 shutdown. While children of color are often mistreated as more developmentally mature than they are, BAE counteracted this burden placed on youth by letting teens be teens. Experiencing both time and permission to play, while also balancing age-appropriate student leadership opportunities (managing classroom budgets, organizing group communications, project managements, etc…), BAE team members observed WHEELS students demonstrating outstanding public speaking and performance skills, greater command over healthy communication tools (how to ask for help and setting boundaries) and increased comfort levels around taking risks, and overall growth in social and emotional intelligence.

REVENUE & EXPENSE

Programming was made possible thanks to support from the NYC Department of Education (DOE), Anna and Stephen T. Kellen Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Department of Education, Tiger Baron Foundation, Music Man Foundation, LesPaul Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and individual donors from Broadway for Arts Education donors.