va: kids for diversity final

Here is our final project for Visual Advocacy. Below are five videos following the presentation. The first one includes all of the compiled four. The others are student answers for each of the questions.

Kids for Diversity

va: paradoxes

PARADOX

the idea
Visualizing, defining paradox in design and creating new words which pinpoint these tensions. The end product will be a compilation of them together in either a spatial experience (two-dimensional and three-dimensional), a motion piece (paper and digital), or a book (sculptural and flat).

steps
1. Research what exactly these paradoxes are in design (an example of this would be figure-ground).
2. Study how language is used in fine arts
3. Study linguistics/semiotics in how to form/visualize these new words that define these paradoxes
4. Compile the words/images together

what inspired this project
There is more truth in complexity and paradox than there is in simplicity and black and white statements. In my Contemporary Art class covering the 1960s, the articles we read analyzing the artwork of that time period consistently hinge on theses that try to shed light on, make sense of, and emphasize the paradox of the artist in relation to the materials they use, their beliefs, the artwork’s qualities, the trends of the time, and other elements. This mainly is due to the nature of art criticism and the simple fact that this tension of paradox makes for a more interesting discussion. As I am double-majoring in graphic design and art history, my degree project will increase the dynamic between the two.

past work which speaks to these paradoxes

va: degree project

There is more truth in complexity than there is in simplicity. In my Contemporary Art class covering the 1960s, the articles we read analyzing the artwork of that time period consistently hinge on theses that try to shed light on, make sense of, and emphasize the paradox of the artist in relation to the materials they use, their beliefs, the artwork’s qualities, the trends of the time, and other elements. This mainly is due to the nature of art criticism and the simple fact that this tension of paradox makes for a more interesting discussion. As I am double-majoring in graphic design and art history, my degree project will increase the dynamic between the two.

Indirectly, this is an analysis of the fine line between fine art and graphic design. In my search for paradoxes in design in relation to history and the present, I hope to visualize and paradoxically make clearer the ambiguity of the gap between fine art and design. As elusive and abstract as this sounds, an example of this would be Joshua Shannon’s “A Loft without Labor: Judd,” in The Disappearance of Objects: New York Art and the Rise of the Postmodern City. Achieving a clear, understandable view of ambiguity is difficult to achieve, but Shannon skillfully and carefully manages this heightened tension of abstraction and clarity.

Whether this manifests itself into a spatial experience, a motion piece, a book, an infographic, or a website, I am not sure. I am leaning towards creating an interactive piece, involving two-dimensional and three-dimensional aspects. In the end, though, this will be dictated by my research.

va: pitch presentation to Leslie

Today we met with Leslie and Heather to pitch our idea. We were pretty much on the same page the whole time and our feedback mostly involved how to execute the details and next steps. Leslie talked about how parents who express worries about French-immersion were reassured after speaking to recent alumni and students (ex. a parent not being able to help their kids with homework in French). One of the things we asked was how we could share the video, and they acted like it would not be a problem at all. Leslie noted she would be able to share it on social media sites. Another thing they mentioned was to rethink our audience because they have parents with very young children (ranging from unborn children to younger than a year).

Key points:
-Application period for AL (Jan 11 - Mar 3) to be included in video
-Open house is Nov. 17th and Jan. 23 (potential dates to show the video)
-Possible tagline: "We're a good school, but we want to get to great"
-Consider using a frog in the imagery to represent France
-Hit on how it is a French-speaking school, not a French school
-Privacy issues: create a draft for a release form
-Possible times to interview children: recess, 5-10 minutes out of class, weekends
-Dates to avoid interviewing: Nov 10, 12, 13, 24
-Importance of having a balance in the video about speaking in French, but not appearing elitist
-List of things that the school has to offer:
--door to door busing
--free uniform closet
--6 wk summer program (sort of like child care during the summer)
--can drop off students at 7:30am before school starts
--after school tutoring
--before and after school care
--the French-immersion aspect
--overall programs available

Next Steps...
We are going to design the email pdf that will go to the parents to tell them about this project. We also have to write up a draft for the release form for Leslie and Heather to use, as well as set up shooting dates to record.

va: david darmitzel feedback

During class, we met with David Darmitzel who is a board member of Friends Of Hale Cook and also husband of Sarah Darmitzel, chair of Friends of Hale Cook. We wanted to be diverse in our pool of kids, so we reached out to someone at Hale Cook to get a new perspective on our project. After pitching our prototypes to him, we received some feedback about our problem statement, goals, and the overall practicality of it. He was a really useful person to talk to because he helped us see our project actually functioning in the real-world and the issues hindering our project at the time. Overall, he provided us with some great constructive criticism on our goals, and helped us understand how to present/pitch an idea in a more effective way.

Things David brought up during the interview:

• Possible challenges to confront:
• access to the kids
• could possibly use LINC
• goals need to be reworked in terms of practicality
• friendship between AL and Halecook seems ambitious and not feasible within a semester
• Friends Of Hale Cook is more interested in linking with KCPS rather than AL
• Possible ways to bring kids together from different schools
• having the students share a common goal
• ex. a sports team
• Consider the logistics of getting other schools to meet
• Think about how to promote diversity through teaching/creating art 
• Consider going to the high school level to offer more varied responses
• In order for this to be successful, the video could be more of an example of what diversity could look like, rather than physically getting kids together
• it's about piecing together the artwork well
• Another issue: getting the video out there (school social media sites do not get much traffic)
• Define what you mean by diversity

va: ambassador dinner (last week)

After putting together our prototype presentation, we attended the Academie Lafayette Parents' Ambassador Dinner coordinated by Leslie Kohlmeyer. The purpose of the dinner was to kickstart the Ambassador program, gathering parents who seemed to be involved in the school. It was great for us because we had a chance to introduce ourselves so that the AL community could get familiar with us. We also were able to pass out information with the cards shown above about Kids for Diversity, including our contact info. Having these cards gave us an excuse to have one-on-one conversations with parents, teachers, and faculty who attended. We realized that our initiative was very closely aligned with Leslie's and decided to collaborate with her for the final product of this class. At the beginning of the dinner, we went around and shared how each parent got to know about the school. We learned that almost all learned through word-of-mouth. 

Leslie then went through her goals for the Ambassador Program involving outreach:

-to build more of a sense of community within our own school

-improve image of AL

-draw applicants from all walks of life

-show the rest of the city what AL is all about

-there is no representative of our community than our children

-AL needs to represent the city's demographic

va: prototype presentation

by Sara Garrison & Mary Lim

va: feedback on prototypes

We talked with four people last week who were vital to our research:

Thursday morning we talked with Michael Zeller. He emphasized speaking to an audience that is NOT involved in public education. The current Academie Lafayette kids and Southwest High School kids would graduate before the partnership even started, so they would not be the ones attending school together. He explains that even though Southwest High School can hold around 1500 kids, it only enrolls about 500, which is a waste of space. He wanted us to work with Border Star and Hale Cook, and other KCPS at the east. Though we were thinking short-term, he told us to think long-term. There were many projects that tried to solve the issue, but Michael said they tried to solve the problem too rashly and too quickly. The challenges he listed included bringing in the middle, white class back into the public schools. He replied that its about bringing in human capital. One example he gave was The Walking School Bus, which was a BikeWalk KC initiative. Kids would walk together and pick each other up with an appointed chaperone.

On Friday, we first met with Jean-Claude Diatta (VP of K-3 at AL). As someone who came from Senegal, he seemed very interested in our topic of diversity and integration. He asked us to think about what our ultimate goal is, and what do we want to do about diversity. The activity involving the kids, he said, should be very active, in that they should know the benefits of diversity and be aware of the importance of diversity. He commented that even kids within classes have trouble getting along with different genders (in his experience as a 5th grade teacher). Stressing the importance of history, he said to think about why this phenomena is happening and try to educate people about it. He then talked about the metaphor of a tree and its shadows. The sun, or the unifying point which touches all things, creates shadows as an effect. But he said that more of the "shadows" should overlap with each other in order to create a "better shadow." What he means here is that we have to improve collaboration and unify people across race and class. In response to our ideas, he thought it was effective to target kids, who would then effect their parents. Near the end of our meeting, Jean-Claude mentioned that he has a friend on the east side of Troost, who actually confessed that his area is not as dangerous as people make it out to be. According to a study, the biggest contributing factor to crime is the lack of street lights. When there were no street lights, crime rates shot up. But people seem to connect crime with race, and make it a bigger issue, when in actuality, it has to do with simple solutions as repairing street lamps. Overall, he thought our ideas were good, but told us to think more about the interaction between the children and the process, rather than the output. He then suggested we read Some of my Friends are Black by Tanner Colby.

Afterwards, we met with Leslie Kohlmeyer and Heather Royce. Heather brought up some good points about the practicality of our ideas. She said that many people want to "use the kids" for their own cause, and wants to make sure that they're protected (in terms of privacy). Leslie noted that the main issue with enrollment is money, not actually race. Academie Lafayette in actuality only accepts about 67 kids, due to the sibling pool policy. The problem, she said, was that the minority applicant pool has remained consistent, but the white application population has skyrocketed three times more than from when the school started. Leslie told us that she wants to flood the pool with minority applicants, but she also did not want to give false hope because many families get turned down each year. Another issue, she said, was that lower income families need to plan ahead and the lottery (of getting accepted into AL) did not provide a guarantee that the kids would be able to attend. After we told her about our ideas, Leslie was more drawn to our video idea, while Heather was more drawn to our public mural idea. Leslie's been working on her own video for AL in order to promote it. She wants to highlight AL's diversity in a subtle way in order to recruit more minorities. Heather liked the public mural idea because she thought it would be good for the school. There is a lot of blank space in the building, and therefore, a lot of opportunities to decorate it.

va: final prototypes

We met with a couple of people last week from Academie Lafayette who have all brought up really good points, mostly relating to how the school processes applications and the logistics behind our ideas. First we met with Jean-Claude Diatta, the vice-principal of the Cherry campus (K-3). Afterwards we talked with Leslie Kohlmeyer (Outreach Coordinator) and Heather (Principal). Interviews will be posted later.

va: reading response (Eco-effectiveness & Catherine Gray)

Why being less bad is no good and eco effectiveness by McDonough & Braungart – Reading Response

• since the Industrial Revolution, there has been the response of trying to find a "less bad" approach (reduce, avoid, minimize, sustain, limit, halt)
• Rachel Carson's Silent Spring - marked the moment where the "romantic strain of wilderness appreciation merged with a scientific basis for concern"
• she pointed out that seemingly harmless things, DDT, actually had a devastating impact on the natural world
• The Four R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle–and Regulate
• reduction is central to eco-efficiency
• overall, Eco-efficiency is admirable but not practical
• it works within the same system that caused the problem in the first place
• was just trying to make the old, destructive system less destructive 
• even though companies claim to be eco-efficient, they are probably distributing their pollution in "less obvious ways"
• Eco-Effectiveness
• once designers set about designing with short-term usefulness, convenience and aesthetic pleasure rather than its ongoing life, the process of innovation begins --> it is here where designers leave aside the "old model of product-and-waste, and its dour offspring, "efficiency," and embrace the challenge of being not efficient but effective with respect to a rich mix of consideration and desires."
• Consider the Cherry Tree
• a cherry tree which naturally sheds its blossoms are not seen as wasteful because their nutrients nourish the soil
• what would be a human-built cherry tree?
• What is growth?
• growth should be considered a good thing, but urban and industrial growth is almost seen as "cancerous"
• A new design assignment:
• buildings that produce more energy than they consume and purify own waste water
• factories that produce effluents that are drinking water
• products that are not wasteful, but can be turned into new products

This reading provided a new perspective on eco-efficiency and effectiveness. It broke down all my previous knowledge about being environmentally friendly. Little did I know that the methods we have today (being "green") are ineffective and are made under the same type of thinking. Much like the cherry tree, designers should keep these things in mind - and not create just more waste. 

Catherine Gray on sustainable business by Bruce Mau – Reading Response

Catherine Gray's, founder of The Natural Step, mission is to move "society towards sustainability." She explains that she works with large companies where they raise awareness, then analyze the business from a sustainability perspective, so that the company understands their biggest risks and impacts. The Natural Step tries to reverse the trend of declining natural resources. Still, there are barriers to The Natural Step in keeping with the balance of profit and sustainability. 

 

va: reading response (He Might be Giant & Adbuster)

He Might be Giant: Shepard Fairey by Michael Dooley – Reading Response
Fairey is mostly known for his "Giant" stickers, where he slapped on large type onto abandoned buildings. It was his way of exposing and subverting consumer culture's susceptibility to propaganda. One example is a sticker that said "Obey your thirst." Dooely also mentions Fairey's tendency to be obscure. Public perception was divided, where some were in complete support and others, who found him delusional. One quote that stood out to me was how Fairey was "ambivalent on his role in capitalizing on the capitalists." He viewed his actions with a sense of mission, to reveal the underpinnings of advertisements. However, what once was an anti-advertising campaign, had turned into a a product. The "Giant" stickers turned into his own brand. There is something ironic and paradoxical about the way in which Shepard Fairey talks about his reasoning behind "Giant" and his capitalization of it.

Adbuster Veronique Vienne Interviews Kalle Lasn – Reading Response
In this article, Vienne interviewed Lasn, one of the publishers of Adbusters magazine. Lasn mentioned "true cost" or the consequences of a new product. Lasn mentions the "severe psychological costs associated with design and the marketing of products." He even goes as far as to say it is a mental illness. In this aspect, designers are, one could say, the perpetrators. He brings up two kinds of products, one that is appealing and another that is functional. Later on in the interview, Lasn brings up another term called "bio-mimicry" (or mimicking nature).

This article raised important implications that come with being a designer. Designers have to think about what they're designing, who they're designing it for, and especially, the consequences of the design. This reminded me of a brief talk with Emmy about using technology; just because we can design it, doesn't mean we should. This also reminded me of the project we are doing in Frank's class where we have to make an androgynous body product. Instead of thinking within the confines of femininity and masculinity, the project breaks the boundaries between the two and opens the playing field. Designers do have a sense of responsibility, and one should use it responsibly.

va: reading response (Designer as Catalyst & Now That We can do Anything...)

Designer as Catalyst by Max Bruinsma – Reading Response
Bruinsma begins with provoking question: "Do designers have a role in the creation of symbols for a culture, an ideology, a mentality? Are they, in short, co-authors of the 'visual text' in which a culture expresses itself? And if they are, does that make them co-responsible, as co-authors, for what is conveyed in that 'text'?" He divides designers into two strategies in approaching consumers: sedation and activation. Bruinsma calls forward a sense of responsibility as a designer, an "instrument of civil discourse." The designer is the catalyst; they can manipulate what the symbols mean, not necessarily make new symbols.

This notion of a designer as catalyst, and an "instrument of civil discourse," gives the designer a sense of responsibility. It still hinges on the current ideas of design (where the designer serves society), but adds a sense of mission. With the tools available, designers can manipulate meaning and are the mediators between the consumer and producer. Bruinsma implies that the designer is not the author, but the mediator of a message.

I agree with Bruinsma to some extent, however this definition of a designer is limiting in some ways. Like we read in the other articles, design is an act that everyone does: problem-solving. It is just an efficient, beneficial term to use. I have my own ideas of what a designer should do, but I don't know how to articulate it quite yet–though I seem to be losing my sense of design the further I get through this graphic design program...Anyhow, designers both paradoxically wield a lot of power, and also are powerless in a sense that designers are limited by the client, but they are the ones who control the output.

Now that we can do anything, what will we do? by Bruce Mau – Reading Response
The article is divided into statements of what a designer should do:
-We will explore design economies: look to economies of movement rather than looking at product design
-We will tap into the global commons: change is about the "promise of design. Design success equals global success."
-We Will distribute capacity: designers should raise discussions and critical thinking. The "future of global design is fundamentally collaborative."
-We will embrace paradox: there is truth in paradox
-We will reshape our future: designers have the power to begin reshaping the future

Mau seems to have a strong idea of what designers should do/should not do. To him, design is very much about being a global citizen, and using design for "massive change." Design does have this power, but I think these statements make design seem more of an act/tool/weapon?, than a way of expression and communication.

va: reading response (Graphic Authorship & Designer as Producer)

Graphic Authorship by Michael Rock  – Response

Generally, Rock talks about the problematic aspects of authorship and graphic design. He first goes into defining what an author is, and the history of its definition. I thought it was interesting how patriarchal the terms became: "father of all life, a director, commander or ruler." Side note: wouldn't origin be mostly related to women, where life begins? Earlier on in history, author-less texts were a sign of legitimacy (scripture). This shifted, however, when society's priorities shifted. Barthes began the discussion of the emphasis of the reader. He suggested that "authored" designs were simply "scattered fragments of quotations." Later on, designers began to speak up and offer their own insight on the author. Brockmann thought that the designer "submits to the will of the system, forgoes personality, and withholds interpretation." The reason why many called for a clear definition of the author, Rock states, is the institutional features of design. A "decentered" message would not fit well with the purpose of a designer, who attempts to satisfy the client. During the 60s, a time of social upheaval and social revolution, many viewed the author as a mode of control; a feature of high art, a feeding of the ego. Rock then talked about the "auteur." According to film theory, the director was the author of the film. Similarly, the designer, too, works at a distance (like a film director) and works collaboratively with other people. Rock uses this definition of the author as a defining feature of the graphic artist. He then supposes that "perhaps the graphic author is actually one who writes and publishes material about design." By the end of the reading, Rock never comes down to a conclusion, and only states: designer=designer.

The designer being the author brings up interesting implications. First, that if the designer is an author, then it would elevate designers, and legitimizes their design. However, the reader is also limited in this sense. With the dominating figure of the author, the reader is not emphasized, because the author injects their own interpretation. Still, in the end, what matters is not the author, but the product. In a way, the designer becoming producers of self-authored goods is unethical and unsustainable, because the main core of design is communication. Some people argue that design should feel so intuitive, so immersive, that one shouldn't notice the designer behind the design. The question is then raised: Are we then servants to society? I feel conflicted about this because to some extent I believe that the blurred line between design and fine art is not clear.

Designer as Producer by Victor Margolin – Response
In this article, Margolin basically states that the current designer today has the opportunity to "produce and distribute new things. whether type fonts, software or material goods of all kinds, to worldwide markets at low costs." He argues that the designer will be able to change the market, and open up new product sectors for larger manufacturers. Margolin seems hopeful for the future of design, commenting on the advancement of technology and the ability of the designer to "subvert the near monopolies of large companies..."

This article posed many interesting points, but Margolin seems too idealistic. Here, I ask what then defines a designer? If Margolin's premonition comes true, then the definition of a designer would become too generalized. Still, technology right now seems to be going in the direction Margolin has suggested. 

va: midterm review

Visual Advocacy Midterm Self-Evaluation

Strengths & Weaknesses in the class
I feel invested in the problem I'm trying to solve, and am passionate about it. My strength lies in researching, sometimes to a fault. At times, I get too invested in the research and feel overwhelmed with all the things I need to learn about. From the beginning of the class, in trying to find a problem, I may have started too broad. From key problems in Kansas City, to broad problems within each problem, I had a hard time zeroing in on a issue. Still, narrowing down the idea was a valuable learning process. I think I need to improve on incorporating ACT concepts, and taking all the knowledge I've learned up to this point (in regards to designing for social good). Sometimes I feel a little lost during class and do not know the objectives for some of the things that we're doing. I need to ground myself in those objectives and think about how to achieve them. Another weakness I seem to have is keeping my teammates on the same page. Working together for a whole semester is a challenge in of itself, and trusting my teammate is crucial. Other smaller things I need to improve on includes blog-posting and time-management.

Plan moving forward to improve
To improve, I need to work on not over-thinking things and just taking action. At times, my inherent need to dwell on subjects makes paralyzed in one place, disabling me from moving forward. Some practical ways to do this is by jotting down my thoughts and doing quick, rapid sketches. Also, my plan is to always keep my teammate informed of what I'm doing, and trusting my teammate (some practical ways are emailing new finds, using google docs, etc.). I also need to review ACT concepts and think about how to use them to create powerful messages (reviewing the readings, ACT notes, etc.).

Deadlines
So far, Sara and I have been consistently a little behind with the class, but we caught up since last class. We struggled in the beginning with narrowing down our concept, but now we have a clear sense of what we will do. This week (which is when we'll be meeting with key stakeholders) will determine our next steps.

Most valuable learning lessons
Overall, this class gives us a rare opportunity to actually work in the "real-world" but stay within the confines/structure of school. It really is a unique and valuable way to learn how to design for good. One issue Sara and I confronted was experiencing backlash, due to the controversy of AL Expansion. This happened mostly in part because I did not look up the person beforehand, leading to misunderstanding and a small conflict.

Another learning lesson was the narrowing-down process of our idea. Sara and I stumbled quite a bit near the beginning of the semester, while always feeling overwhelmed and lost. This was because we did not ground ourselves in the objective of the class and because of our lack of understanding of the project. This process was a bit painful, but necessary in order to have a sense of clear direction in the end.

One last powerful experience was simply interviewing people who are in the professional realm. Simply talking with people, in our case Michael Zeller and Darron Story, gave us so much information. I palpably felt the huge dichotomy of actually sitting down and having coffee over an idea, versus reading about it online. Our interviews were extremely helpful, and Sara and I hope to continue to just sit down and talk with people.

va: prototypes

We just want to reiterate what our big idea is, which is below. First and foremost, we want to focus on the students themselves, and bridge the gap between the coordinators of AL Expansion and the students (which involves one of the biggest reasons for the backlash of the partnership between AL and Southwest HS). There seems to be a disconnect between what goes on behind the scenes of expansion and knowing what the students needs/wants are. Through involving the students more in the process and giving the kids ownership of expansion, we want to ease the process of merging the schools.

THE BIG IDEA: A campaign to prioritize the students involved in the failed partnership between AL and Southwest High School and empower them by giving them a platform to voice their opinions/feel heard.

THE EFFECTS OF THE IDEA:

-Improve the perception of AL, getting more people onboard with the partnership

-increase enrollment of minorities at AL

-reach parents, community leaders, those involved in Expansion in a different/more impactful way. Refreshing, rather than hearing it from an adult on the opposing side.

-any big changes made to either school will be made considering the experiences of the students, as well as what they want and need to change

-build a relationship between students at AL and SW

-as well as building awareness for parents of the students needs at the opposing school

GOALS

-Empower the students

-Give kids a sense of ownership over the issue

-raise awareness of what the students actually want and need /

rather than just doing “what is best” for the students

SUBSETS (things that may be involved in the campaign)

-Utilizing social media and trends to speak to kids

-A translating tool to help kids communicate between schools (French and English)

-Some sort of platform that will allow anyone access to the issue

-Using student's original artwork as design elements for the campaign

PROTOTYPES

va: the big IDEA

Sara and I met today and have finally figured out a direction. After some backtracking on our problem statement (check previous blog post), we decided to focus on the children instead of adults. We realized a couple of important things the other day:

1. Expanding Academie Lafayette may not be the best direction to go in because it’s a controversial topic that has strong pros and strong cons. We became acutely aware of this when we contacted a person who was a part of one of the groups against the partnership. Unaware of the controversy, we asked to meet after explaining our problem statement of expanding Academie Lafayette, but was met with surprising rejection.
2. The reason for the backlash with the partnership (which would be crucial in the expansion of Academie Lafayette) was neglecting the current students at Southwest High School. The groups that were against the partnership said that the city should focus on the students themselves as a priority.

Informed by these realizations, we stayed with our revised problem statement (How can we promote the integration of Kansas City through raising awareness and improving the perception of Academie Lafayette?) but redirected our solution from AL expansion to focusing on students.

See some inspiration below:

Based on Darron Story’s group, Parents Promoting Diversity, Sara and I are going to create a sister-group called Kids For Diversity. This will be a campaign that Sara and I will try to advocate for. We are not sure how much we are going to collaborate with the original group, but we know that we want to empower children, instill hope in KC education, and capture the kids voice.

Right now, we know that gathering interviews of kids at AL and KCPS is crucial to our project. How we will publicize/put these out there are still not decided.

Things we need to do:

• Connect with kids, but HOW?
• we have contacted supervisors at AL on how to get to the students
• we hope to first have an arts and craft activity with kids so that they can start to be comfortable with us, we also want to use the kids’ artwork as imagery so this would be beneficial in that way as well.
• Mary has some connections with a family and teacher that go to AL
• VOICE + IMAGE
• Like in the videos we’ve shared, we want to use the kids’ voice & their perspective to promote the school in a positive,refreshing, and impactful way.
• Voice= recording, writing, video
• For image we have decided that their own creations and artwork could be impactful, rather than using their photograph like we had thought of before.
• Image= video, print, etc.

We have already contacted some of the faculty at Academie Lafayette. Next steps involve reaching out to some faculty/students at other KCPSchools. We also need to flesh out a lot of details, such us what activities we will do with the kids, discussion topics (to provoke “diversity promoting” quotes), and platforms for sharing. Generally, we think a video combining VOICE + IMAGE (as discussed above) could make an impactful video as a main component. But also using these things in social media and print materials, possible broadcasting.  

va: ideas for AL

Since the beginning of the project, Sara and I have continued to feel overwhelmed. Somehow we still have not been able to narrow down our scope, and have not been able to feel excited about our idea. It seems like we always miss the mark, by stepping forward too many steps and then backtracking. This may be in part because of the complexity of the issue, and also the lack of direction. Hopefully our meeting with Michael Zeller on Thursday will provide us with some clarity.

Some ideas (look at previous blog post for more):

• Social Media
• highlight kid of the week, collect their story and photograph
• AL does not currently have an Instagram account, so Sara and I would run this platform in order to advertise/promote the school. We would have to be involved in their events and activities
• At the end of the project, we could compile all the images into one book/magazine/some sort of publication where we could distribute it to others
• Spatial PSA
• small scale scavenger hunt where people could pick up clues around the city and end up at AL --> could be one main event, with flyers/promo material leading up to it
• it would mostly work as an adventure for kids to go through with their parents while learning about AL and diversity
• Pen Pals / PostSecret
• we would connect students from public schools and AL and exchange letters
• they could also send it anonymously, and share intimate stories with each other

After talking with Kelly, we did some research and found out a couple of things. First, expanding AL to a high school may not be the direction we want to go in. I researched a bit more into the topic, and found out that this is actually a very controversial problem to take on. Using the failed merging of Southwest High School and AL as a case study, we saw how complex the issue can get. There was actually strong backlash to the partnership, specifically because of how the students at Southwest High School would be negatively effected. In order to avoid this controversy, Sara and I refined our problem statement once more:

Problem: Academie Lafayette's minority to majority ratio has flipped over the years.

integrating education in kansas city will benefit the city economically and also socially. the divide along troost, the increasing population of minorities, etc. will all be positively impacted by desegregation. low-income students can tap into the academic benefits of their high-achieving peers and high-quality teachers --> thereby improving childhood care, health, housing, economic security, and learning opportunities.

Things making it worse: 
-limited space availability (only 150 students), with around 500 applicants, 250 get turned down
-sibling priority - perpetuates the existing demographic ratio
-these days are paying less attention to promoting diversity overall
-only accepts children before first grade, not after (because it's a full-French immersion school)
-as a charter school, it necessitates high parent involvement for a student to succeed

within these issues above, you can tell that its the problem of the chicken or the egg: are students only succeeding at AL because they are already set up for success? their parents must be involved and proactive in order to get their kid into AL, and high parent involvement usually means a better home environment. this outputs higher achieving students. 

Things making it better:

-Parents Promoting Diveristy

-Academie Lafayette Expansion

-news coverage

-? Needs more research

Possible Solutions:

• form a sister group to Parents Promoting Diversity called Kids for Diversity
• this would mainly focus on the students of AL rather than their parents
• it would encourage dialogue between not just parents, but their children
• a platform which exposes the issues, and makes them transparent that provides both sides
• while researching, articles were very vague about why the partnership failed and what exactly is happening with AL and KCPS
• a clear messaging system that makes AL transparent would be helpful for the community on both sides
• a campaign focused on integration
• an initiation mainly focused on raising awareness about the benefits of integration and the current state of KC's education system
• would use AL as a starting point/a model (but also point out what's wrong with AL)
• creating an outreach program to inform minority parents with kids under 5 years old
• we would sit down with parents and go over the application process
• make it easy for them to apply, and remind them of deadlines
• provide them some sort of guide that tells them what they should do
• if they are not able to enroll their kid(s) then we will provide alternate options for education
• getting kids from AL to talk to other public schools to tell their own stories
• the kids themselves are the advocates, rather than adults
• empowering kids
• ex. Kid President on youtube

Links/Helpful Sources
Info on failed partnership between AL (Charter school) and Southwest High School (KCPS)
http://willnotbetelevised.com/2014/06/20/kcps-3/
http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2015/03/tkc-breaking-news-community-groups-stop.html
http://www.ingrams.com/article/better-to-reign-in-kc-than-serve-in-heaven-2/
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article18531503.html

Info on AL
http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/acie/vol4/Feb2001_KansasFrench.html
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/community/816/article4000626.html
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article588144.html

va: big picture possibilities

Final problem statement:

How can we promote the integration of Kansas City through raising awareness and improving the perception of Academie Lafayette? 

Basically...

-improving the perception of AL

-raising awareness of AL

-perhaps through Academie Lafayette Expansion organization

Some ideas:

• Infographs/posters posted in businesses along Troost
• Desired Outcome: for people along the east side of Troost to be aware of AL
• Systematic Approach: through gathering impactful information and turning them into understandable infographs, and also find key gathering locations
• Basic Components:
• collaboration with the businesses (possible cross-over with Lauren, Elissa, and Amber's group)
• resources to print these flyers, posters
• permission to post them
• Approaches for Research, Audience Feedback:
• meet professionals (possibly some teachers) working with AL
• surveying some business owners
• surveying parents
• surveying random people in KC to get statistics on what people already know
• Branding for the Expansion Committee 
• Desired Outcome: to create a new image for AL as all-inclusive
• Systematic Approach: attend as many committee meetings as possible and fully grasping their goals and what they want to achieve
• Basic Components: 
• Academie Lafayette logo and brand guide
• permission to advertise in businesses
• resources for posters, flyers, etc.
• Approaches for Research, Audience Feedback:
• meeting with the committee and getting feedback
• surveying some students at AL
• Spatial PSA about the benefits of integration 
• Desired Outcome: for people to feel a sense of urgency about the need for diversity in KC, especially the east side of Troost
• Systematic Approach: By gathering more in-depth information, then choosing a desired location/time that would most strategic, and then setting up the PSA will determine its success
• Basic Components: 
• legal issues with setting up a spatial PSA in the public realm
• resources (money for materials)
• possibly equipment (stereos, mic, screen, projector)
• Approaches for Research, Audience Feedback: 
• live reactions from the audience after the PSA
• interviews of users
• talking to community leaders about prime gathering locations
• Create a commercial for AL emphasizing diversity
• Desired Outcome: to expose the lack of knowledge and sense of urgency about integration in KC (and to just gather what people in KC really think about education)
• Systematic Approach: 
• come up with a set of provoking questions
• come up with a method to get people talking/feel comfortable
• getting the right equipment
• interviewing people at AL
• Basic Components:
• gathering locations
• relies on people's comfort level and desire to interact
• equipment
• legal issues
• Approaches for Research:
• look up existing videos/films of this sort
• ways how to make people feel comfortable
• Humans of KC - based on Humans of NYC
• Desired Outcome: Reveal the diversity in KC
• Systematic Approach:
• figure out a way to get people to feel comfortable
• accurate representation of the demographic
• take pictures contrasting the conditions of west of Troost and east of Troost
• Basic Components:
• having to be out almost constantly, taking pictures and interviewing people
• a photographer or someone we can work with
• basic interview questions to ask as a guideline
• equipment, camera
• Approaches for Research:
• targeting strategic ways on how to approach people
• interviewing 

va: final presentation

va: presentation + schedule