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Final Reflection- A Lifes Work

Last summer, I decided to pack my bags for San Diego and enroll in a one year teaching
residency with High Tech High. After working both in and out of traditional schools, I came here
to experiment with alternative programming, wanting to learn and steal the principles, resources,
and structures that a progressive organization like High Tech High offered and apply them in a
different setting. Always more interested in the potential of a mixed classroom without
traditional walls, I used this year and action research experience to experiment with how to
integrate the principles of Project Based Learning and Deeper Learning into more community
based programming . That experiment took different forms and functions, but at the core of
every community event remained our drive to provide unique and creative opportunities for
positive social interaction.

With that said, throughout this residency and research project, I made many mistakes. The
BoomBox Collective never created an engaging marketing campaign or social media presence,
despite our countless conversations about doing so. We should have incorporated student
partners into the design and facilitation of our programs from the beginning. We never cultivated
new community relationships outside of those mentioned in the findings. We should have
participated in more community events within San Diego. More importantly, I could have been
more active within the HTH community, especially down in Chula Vista. I developed a strong
relationship with my 7th grade team and students, but did little outside of that classroom. I could
have been a more visible contributor and more positive observer. For talking so much about the
value of social networks, I admittedly should have done more to foster my own.

The list of shoulda, woulda, couldas could drag on for the next few pages. However, I always
fall back on one undeniable truth- this year made me better. It made me a better educator. It
made me a more intentional and conscious organizer. It made me a more reflective thinker and
writer. Despite the challenges and missteps, I am leaving here better equipped to continue this
work- to construct safer and more equitable learning spaces for both youth and adults, to
facilitate more meaningful conversation between the two, and to create engaging projects and
creative experiences that will encourage my community to meet and learn from each other.

In high school, I had an old school basketball coach with an arsenal of wisdom and one liners.
Throughout practice and games, he would use them to motivate the team and to encourage a
positive attitude. My favorite quote, that I still use to this day, was,The most important shot is
the next shot. Although he used it after we chucked up another airball, I believe that mentality
to be the foundation of this action research project. We created. We acted. We learned for next
time. Regardless of our effort and preparation, there will always be lessons and findings that
need to be considered in order for us to grow as educators or leaders. Those lessons will drive
my development as a community organizer and the future of these programs.

However, my specific experience here at HTH and with this action research also amended my
focus on the next shot. Yes, it is important to look forward and confidently take that next shot
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and step. It is important to act and keep trying. However, in doing so, we need to properly reflect
on the last, collect and investigate the available data, consult relevant resources, and most
importantly, put our thoughts and plans down on paper. Without that reflective process,
continual action does not always guaranteed progress. You do not learn just from getting back
up. Instead, we need to constantly consider our own actions, their roots, context, and
consequences. Career organizer and artist Si Kahn acknowledges this necessary cycle in
community work, writing in his book Creative Community Organizing that:

As organizers, we need to locate ourselves at that crossroads where activism and
culture intersect, so that our work is rooted in both action and reflection. The dynamic
tension between these varied ways of thinking and working will only give additional
creativity and force to the work we do.(2010, p. 85)

I learned the value of that work this year. Through the writing, surveys, text analysis, countless
observations, and thorough interviews with participants, I have come to better realize both the
value and many challenges embedded in the work of community building. To allow for that value
to outshine those challenges, I will need to continue this cycle of action and reflection to not just
hone this program, but to grow as a leader.

My partner and I barely scratched the surface of community work, its potential and complexity.
Like with most important work, we recognize that it takes time to evolve these programs and to
mold a sustainable and effective community organization. To enact positive change within any
community, we, both as individuals and an organization, need to be rooted within that
community and connected to its future progress. This has been the most obvious conclusion
from this last year. In order to truly build community and help develop social capital, I first need
to invest in a community. Not with just money or sweat or energy, but with time. Embers, not
sparks, keep a fire going and make a home warm. I need to dig in, cultivate long term
relationships, build a coalition of like minded people and groups, research community needs,
and then finally, design creative and sustainable answers. I have read that in every book and
heard it from every organizer, but never yet seriously considered that truth.

In our six months here, Henry and I obviously were not able to plant those larger roots. Instead,
we hoped to experiment with program ideas, develop a portfolio of work to later launch from,
and hopefully lay some seeds for future events. Although we will not organize another music
exchange or co-host another community dinner here in San Diego, our events did inspire future
actions.

Nathan Young, a local writer and teacher at Trade School, reached out to us after our
workshops in March, interested in starting his own skill sharing program. As of June 2014, Skill
School has been up and running for a month, providing the same opportunity for skill sharing
and creative interaction that we envisioned in this research.

Kyle and Edrick, my fearless partners in 7th grade, have shared that they will continue to
organize At The Table to promote both their school farm and future efforts to provide healthier
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food options in Chula Vista. Next year, they want to include all fifty six of their students and
make it even bigger. In an email exchange, Edrick writes:

The buzz from our students infected those who were not there, creating regret and a
wanting to change the past so that they could have participated as well. Instinctively,
Kyle and I starting planning with a handful of students, asking them how they would
change the event to include more community members. The result of those few
conversations led us to creating the next evolution of At The Table. For our At The
Table 2.0, we will invite community members from local school gardens, as well as
directors and executive leadership for those schools. The focus will remain the same,
but we will attempt to create a product that will unite all of us together as one community
centered around the mission to promote healthier eating and living."

And really, that is all that we could ask for after one chaotic year. In the end, we, along with
many of our partners, students, and participants, found value in this work. We found value in
providing more opportunities for people, both young and adult, to talk and connect outside the
demands and expectations of school, work, or family. We found value in providing new
mechanisms in which people could meet new friends and share their stories. We found value in
designing spaces in which community members could learn from each other.

Far from perfect and sometimes far from good, our work provided plenty of next steps and
necessary improvements that we will need to make for our future programming. This year was a
start and when it comes to any type of community work, that is sometimes all you can ask for. In
the fall, I wrote University of Massachusetts professor and author of the inspiring book
Community Dreams, Bill Berkowitz, about his lifes work and if he had any wisdom for someone
interested in community building. His response has stuck with me throughout this year:

community building can be a lifetime proposition. As far as I can tell, theres going to be
plenty of work to do far into the future. And its possible to construct ones life so that one
can do it as effectively and efficiently as one possibly can over (in your case) the next
50-60 years. Not a bad way to live.

There is no magic bullet or secret for how to create effective programming that strengthens
community. Instead, as Mr. Berkowitz writes, it requires a lifetime of hard work, collaboration,
and reflection. I am proud of each program The BoomBox Collective organized, but I also
recognize that this is only the beginning.

This summer I will leave San Diego to return to New Orleans, the only city and community that I
have ever really wanted to call home. Although I have not lined up that next job or professional
step, I know I will continue this work. Whether through a school or community organization or
pop-up initiative, I better realize that the drive and goals behind this action research were not
simply a product of circumstance or requirements of this program, but instead that they are a
part of me. I came to High Tech High wanting to steal the organizations secrets and design a
creative community program from those lessons. However, aside from the many teaching
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structures I have learned and the brilliant educators I have encountered, I have learned most
importantly here at HTH that there are no secrets. Education, regardless of shape, size, or
audience, simply takes dedicated time and uncompromising positive energy. Although a bit
worn from a challenging year, I am leaving High Tech High not with secrets, but instead a
refocused confidence that I can realize the visions constantly playing out in my head. I have
always had these ideas and community dreams. With the experience from this year, all I need
now is to stay put, work the soil, and let them grow.