Stacey Cervellino Thorp and Naima Moffett-Warden teach drama at Manhattan’s famed LaGuardia High School, and Abigail Rivera is a senior in the drama studio. Although all LaGuardia students are extraordinarily talented, their families, neighborhoods, and middle schools have vastly different resources. Students and faculty, led by students of color, have won changes and are demanding more steps to make the school more accessible and the curriculum more culturally responsive.
Overview
00:00-00:44 Intros
00:44-08:26 LaGuardia admissions standards and how they have changed
08:26-11:23 The sit-in and movement for changing the previous principal
11:23-13:40 Pressures to take AP courses; academics prioritized over arts and the efforts to change that
13:40-18:22 Teaching students with diverse arts backgrounds
18:22-21:37 Teaching and learning on-line: impacts on process and equity
21:37-24:19 Changing Eurocentric curriculum; Young Idealists
24:19-30:02 Conversations and actions since George Floyd’s death
30:02-34:46 The school’s responses
34:46-35:42 Students’ interest in using careers for social change
35:42-40:50 Making high quality arts education available to many more students on an equitable basis
40:50-42:09 Students’ talking at their middle schools
42:09-47:43 Broadening visions of arts careers, especially for BIPOC students and their families
47:43-49:12 Outro
Transcript
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Credits
Soundtrack: Podington Bear
Image: laguardiahs.org
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