Ingenuity State of the Arts Progress Report 2015-2016 | Page 66

profile on the fund:
JULIAN HIGH SCHOOL’S AUDIO ACTIVISM PROJECT
EMPOWERS AND ENGAGES STUDENTS
Located in the Washington Heights
neighborhood on Chicago’s far south side,
Percy Julian High School attracts students
with its career and technical education
programs, as well as a strong commitment to
providing quality educational opportunities
in the arts. In recent years, students at Julian
have been witnesses to Chicago’s growing
gun violence, including a double homicide
on campus.
Going into the 2015-16 school year, faculty
at Julian High School were determined to
help students deal with the effects of these
traumas. The school applied for a $10,000
grant through the Creative Schools Fund
for a program to help students explore
and understand issues of violence in local
communities. The grant was awarded and
the school partnered with Street Level
Youth Media to initiate the Audio Activism
Project for 11th and 12th grade students.
The project began in the school's English
classes, where students developed research
skills, narrative techniques, and literary
devices. Students then traveled to Street
Level Youth Media’s production studio and

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learned lighting and film composition,
poetic structure, storyboarding, sound
mixing, and editing in order to bring their
stories to life through music videos.
The Audio Activism Project allowed students
to develop their own voices and find
acknowledgment for their stories. It kindled
students’ enthusiasm for school and, in
several cases, encouraged students to raise
their grades enough to graduate on time.
One such student began coming to school
with renewed energy and focus, and was
able to turn around failing grades in all of his
classes. His gift with lyrics and digital audio
production made him a “superstar” among
his peers, and as his learning was sparked,
he became a different student—teachers
observed him laughing and engaged in ways
previously unseen. This student eventually
raised his grades enough to graduate,
including earning an A in English. Creative
writing teacher Katherine Whitington said
of the Audio Activism Project, “In a school
and community best known for violence and
loss, it was deeply empowering for students
to shift that narrative.”