What's new at Leap

Leap Presents ALLL at ASCD (March 2008)

From March 15-17, 2008, educators from across the country came together at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) conference in New Orleans.  Leap’s Executive Directors, Ila Lane Gross and Alice Krieger, New York University Professor Dr. Vivian Clarke, and United States Department of Education Program Manager Diane Austin presented Leap’s highly successful Active Learning Leads to Literacy (ALLL) program.

This year, the ASCD conference featured sessions highlighting various types of scientifically-based studies on education. Our team discussed ALLL’s teaching strategies, startling quantitative and qualitative results, and positive impact on K-2 students. Furthermore, they outlined the overall development of the ALLL program. They explained their roles in creation and implementation, testing and results, accountability and the government’s involvement. This comprehensive presentation captivated participants and gave a clear picture of the success of the ALLL program.

Leap participating in Poem in your Pocket Day at Bryant Park (April 2008)

Leap is excited to be involved in the Sixth Annual Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 17th at Bryant Park. Leap students will be participating with numerous New York City poets from Urban Word NYC, Cornell University, New York University, and the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center.

Public Art is off to an Amazing Start (March-June 2008)

We kicked off our newest program, Public Art, this past March. Public Art is designed to empower middle school students to make their voices heard on issues in their communities through the creation and public exhibition of art. While exploring social issues, students are learning how public art can be used as a creative and constructive means of expressing their ideas and engaging their communities.  

Leap teaching artists and students have been discussing community concerns as well as studying the history, practice, and power of public art. After these discussions, students are choosing one or more topics to research and address from a community-based standpoint to create public works of art that communicate their ideas. In addition, students will meet distinguished guest artists who have exhibited public art. Once the research has been completed, students will create art on school lunchroom tables. The table was chosen as the common-base for the project, as it symbolizes the school, and when placed in a public setting it reflects the underlying mission of the program, students expressing their ideas to their communities. Art on the tables will include murals, photography, poetry, 3-D work, and mosaic.

The 10 final tables (created collaboratively by students) will be displayed in 10 local community parks in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and will comprise a unified citywide two-month summer exhibition.  This will be the largest student exhibition in the history of New York City parks as well as the first to span all five boroughs. The art show will serve as a public forum for the sharing of the students’ perspectives through their art.  There will be a kick-off for the exhibition in the form of a student presentation and press conference on Thursday, May 29^th starting at 11:30 AM at Bryant Park in front of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 41st Street, and community opening events at the 10 local parks will take place in the first and second weeks of June.

Fidelity FutureStage’s 2008 Season (June 2008)

Fidelity FutureStage is now in its seventh month and the students have learned the art of playwriting and production through a series of workshops and guest lectures from professionals covering a comprehensive range of theater disciplines. Broadway stars have hosted workshops at individual schools and visited with students as they attended Broadway productions including Young Frankenstein, A Bronx Tale, In the Heights, GREASE and Come Back, Little Sheba.  Some of the artists sharing their insights and experiences with students in conjunction with these shows include: S. Epatha Merkerson, Megan Mullally, Chazz Palminteri, Kathleen Marshall, and Charles S. Dutton. One student-written play has been selected from each of the ten Fidelity FutureStage schools. Currently, students are rehearsing, directing, designing and producing the selected plays for the final celebration. Fidelity, The Viertel/Frankel/ Baruch/Routh Group and Leap will host the final performances at New World Stages in June 2008.

ALLL Generates Amazing Results
Active Learning Leads to Literacy,
A Successful Strategy for Early Childhood