Slickfish Education and Therapy — Mr. Coleman
Slickfish Education & Therapy is an aquatic science curriculum developed by Jay “Per A” Coleman, that allows students to learn how to build a saltwater fish tank as well as maintain and care for its unique inhabitants. Although founded over five years ago, Slickfish originally partnered with Guerilla Arts Afterschool Program in 2010 to build a 29-gallon tank in the Park Morton (aka “640″) neighborhood of NW DC.
This school year, we have partnered with Cesar Chavez Middle School (Parkside Campus) to provide arts programming during the Targeted Instruction blocks of the school day, Monday – Thursday each week. Below is a clip of the Slickfish/GA program in action with the Chavez Middle Schoolers.
Harambe at Ballou HS – Meet Baba Ras D
Harambe is our morning celebration of learning and inspirational moment held daily before classes at the Arts & Tech Academy of Ballou HS in Washington, DC. Facilitator of Harambe session is Baba Ras D of Revel Youth Shine (RYS) & Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC
“Harambe” is a Kiswahili term that means “We agree to come together and pull together to ensure the victory of Light Over Darkness, Good Over Evil, Love Over Hate, and Life Over Death”. This is the vibration we are striving to engage our children in, when many of them are surrounded by despair. Salute to Baba Ras D and Jabari “AuraGin” Exum for sharing their passion and truly exemplifying what it mean to be a “Guerilla Artist”.
Hip Hop Literacy at Artisphere in Arlington, VA
During the last week of July, Asheru led the first of his Hip Hop Educational Literacy Program (H.E.L.P.) workshop series at Artisphere in Arlington, VA, and it was a truly amazing experience! Using the Mos Def song, “New World Water”, and H.E.L.P. workbooks, students had the chance to assemble in Artisphere’s Dome Theatre for a multimedia workshop exploring the many uses and abuses of water around the world. From water scarce communities like in Angola, Africa, to water ravished communities like New Orleans, LA, and extremely water polluted areas such as the Gulf Coast in the Southeastern part of the US. From there, participants broke into smaller groups to create art and media projects with Guerilla Artists, Quest Skinner and Khalil Gill. With Quest, the students painted a beautiful, 12 foot mural with the theme of water conservation, and with Khalil, students were able to make a series of short, 30-second PSAs illustrating ways that we all can pitch in to conserve and make better use of water. The students were a part of Progressive Educational Experiences in Cooperative Cultures (www.PEECC.org) summer program, and came to the workshop as a culminating activity to their summer enrichment around environmental awareness and empowerment.
Here is a recent article promoting the HELP series of workshops at Artisphere:
http://ballston.patch.com/articles/the-educational-power-of-hip-hop
More workshops to come, for both students and teachers! Please visit Artisphere.com for more info and to enroll yourself or your child! Scholarships available to Arlington residents.
Guerilla Arts Afterschool Program: A Year In Review
Guerilla Arts Afterschool Program at Ballou HS, Washington, DC
Gabriel Benn, M. Ed. Feature in Ebony Magazine (June 2010)
Gabrien Benn took part in an interview that has been featured in the June issue of Ebony Magazine. Entitled, “Whose Your Daddy: Four Men On Fatherhood”, the article is a must-read. Download the 5-page excerpt from Ebony below.
