I wish that instead of taking State exams today, that our children were engaged with Imogene Drummond's Divine Sparks program, as these San Miguel students are in the photo above. She's my guest blogger today - and here she shares her experience working with at-risk students at San Miguel Academy in Newburgh, New York.
DIVINE SPARKS ARRIVES AT SAN MIGUEL ACADEMY
Sparking Empowerment through Creativity
by Imogene Drummond
My Divine Sparks journey
just got a little more exciting.
Recently, I offered the first of ten Divine Sparks sessions to seventeen
fifth graders at San Miguel Academy of Newburgh, NY. Why is this exciting? Two reasons:
because San Miguel is a visionary school, and because we share the same
goal--to empower young people.
To understand my recent
experience, it’s important to understand San Miguel’s location. As the fourth most impoverished urban center
in the U.S., and the ninth most violent, Newburgh was dubbed the “murder
capital of NY State” by New York Magazine.
San Miguel Academy, an independent, faith-based, fifth to eighth grade
middle school for boys from under-served families in the City of Newburgh, uses
education--and a thoughtful, nurturing, safe environment--to break the
pervasive cycle of poverty and violence in which these boys are raised. Basically, San Miguel Academy is trying to
keep these children from being used as drug mules, and to give them the skills
and opportunities for a totally different kind of life. This is big picture
stuff.
To me, San Miguel is
special because its vision remains intact throughout its multi-layered
implementation. Its president, board,
and faculty clearly are doing a lot of things right. Their sharply-etched thoughtfulness
shows. For example, surrounding the
front door is printed in large, yellow and blue, capital letters “The Street
Stops Here.” To an artist who believes
in the ability of art, symbols, and design to create change, this signage is
powerful. That these words are written
on the “open” transparent medium of glass versus the opaque material of a
barrier, adds to the transformative experience of walking through the entrance.
Prior to my presentation
(during the lunch hour), I chatted in the hall with Fr. Mark Connell and Mrs.
Kerry DiMeo, San Miguel’s president and fifth grade teacher, respectively. An unusual thing happened. On three separate occasions, a boy walked up
to me, reached out his right hand, looked me in the eye, and confidently said,
“Hello. My name is [Angel, R.
N.]. Welcome to San Miguel.” and
briefly joined us three adults in conversation. Well! I was surprised and impressed by these students’ politeness, confidence,
and assertiveness. Being from the plug-and-play
generation, I was taught as a child not to speak to adults unless spoken to.
That San Miguel teaches its boys to speak up, be polite, positive, and
proactively welcoming, struck me--like the sign surrounding the door--as
significant.
So, now you have an idea
of where Divine Sparks will be the next ten weeks! Let me briefly introduce this innovative
multimedia that I wrote, directed, and produced. Divine Sparks Film + Book sparks empowerment
through creativity. Three components
combine in this holistic project to ignite and nurture the child’s creative
spark. The award-winning 30-minute film
offers inspiring visual prompts. The
colorful, interactive book delivers an exciting toolkit with stimulating ideas,
fun art activities, and delightful exercises that help students access their
inner artist. The project employs an
innovative approach often using one’s own story/history/personal mythology as
source material. Each session involves
three activities: View, Do, and
Discuss.
In introducing Divine
Sparks to the students, I shared my goal to help them develop their individual
creativity, versus teach them art.
First, we discussed what they think “creativity” is. Their ideas ranged from “being about line and
shape,” to “thinking outside the box,” to “being about imagination.” I was impressed by their ability to think abstractly. This
led to a discussion about how creativity can help us be happier, more satisfied
with our lives, learn better, and sometimes even heal physically. In discussing how creativity can help us
become empowered and what “empowered” means, one boy said it means “helping us
develop as whole people.” Now, I was
even more impressed with their abstract thinking!
We then watched the
30-minute film, a whimsical story of transformation and wonder, followed by a Q
& A. I asked my usual questions:
What were their favorite parts of the film?
What did they think the film was about?
What did they think the sparks meant?
A dozen or more hands shot up after each question. Though the term is never used in the film,
when one boy said he thought the film was about “the creative spark in us,” I
just about levitated!
Inspired by the film, the
boys then did an art activity, “Visualize Words.” Each student chose two favorite words (from a
page in the book--see photo), and painted one word as the background and one as
the subject. A vigorous explosion of
activity ensued with lots of paint being drawn, brushed, swooshed, smeared, and
sponged. One child said woefully “I
messed up.” That was my clue to share my
mantra: “There is no bad art, you can’t mess up.” “But,” I quickly added, “you can start over.” To which he immediately said, “Can I start
over?”
Several boys painted outer
space, making their backgrounds black--always a strong color! Others depicted snakes flying over waves, a
dark moon hanging above the ocean, and lyrical stars that look like lilies in
front of the sun. When discussing each
boy’s art work, one boy said he chose his two images because they were the only
two things he knew how to draw.
Hopefully, ten weeks from now, he won’t think that! I hope he, and his fellow students, will come
to feel increasingly equipped to embark on new paths that are their life, as
they leave the street in their rear view mirror.
****************************************
Imogene Drummond is an
award-winning filmmaker, painter, futurist, author of articles on cultural transformation,
world traveler, and former psychotherapist. Her experience, talent, and vision
converge in Divine Sparks. She has an M.F.A. from MICA (the Maryland Institute
College of Art )—one of the country’s premier art schools, and an M.S.W. from
The Catholic University of America. Due to her many painting expeditions around
the world, she was invited to join The Society of Woman Geographers.
Find her on Facebook:
And her Divine Sparks Website:
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