By Mary Hammers
This past April, Hillbrook 6th-8th graders embarked on our first Reach Beyond Week, which included nine reflective, engaging, and hands-on experiences that found our students across Santa Clara county, San Francisco, Southern California, and around the globe with service learning and cultural trips to China and Taiwan. Our middle school students were reflecting, collaborating, and creating as they explored topics ranging from expression and narrative in the arts, following the paths and voices of writers, investigating what it takes to develop and maintain San Jose’s urban space, the world of sustainable fashion in both San Francisco and Southern California, contemplating how we can preserve (and enjoy) our trails, and more.
Read on to learn more about some of the Reach Beyond Week experiences:
Art, Identity, and Social Change:The week was full of first-person as well as macro-experiences in the arts. Students visited the downtown studios of two San Jose-based artists, sculptor Ken Matsumoto and visual artist Tony May. These visits gave students an intimate look at how professional artists work, their creative process, and what inspire them. Students were able to ask Matsumoto and May questions about themselves and their work, and get to know them as people as well as artists. They got to explore the question of identity in art and view it through the lens of each artist. Elise (‘19) says, “I was very inspired. It made me really think about how and why the artist created what they did.” Henry (‘19) added,”It showed me the simplicity and the deeper meaning behind every stroke of paint.”
In addition, students visited three local museums and with the help of museum educators, looked at the message and social impact of artists at the Cantor Museum at Stanford, San Jose Museum of Art and the de Saisett Museum at Santa Clara University. Johanna (‘19) describes her takeaway, “Art changes the rules, art has no rules, society is based on rules.”
Over the course of the week, as they learned about various artists and their work, students considered aspects that define them and make their experiences of the world unique. This understanding helped them to see the relationship between who an individual is or how they see themselves and the art that individual creates. Art teacher Laura Hale says as student’s perspectives on art and art-making became more nuanced, so too, did their self-awareness, “Ultimately reaching beyond oneself takes an understanding of self and community and there is no question that our students grew to more deeply understand both.”
Food, Farms, & Community: We all enjoy an abundance of fresh produce in area supermarkets, but how many people can say they’ve spent time in a migrant farmworker camp? Hillbrook middle schoolers can. Students who chose “Food, Farms & Community” for Reach Beyond Week took a deep dive into the world of agriculture in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties where meeting farmworkers and experiencing move-in day for these laborers was just part of the eye-opening experience. The group set out to discover where our food comes from and getting to the answer proved a fascinating exploration of the people and organizations who help get that food to our table.Over the course of the week, students traveled to Watsonville and Santa Cruz County meeting with farmworkers, labor unions, community action groups and the mayor of Watsonville. They learned about the different types of crops grown locally, how those fields are managed and how the area provides produce for much of the world. They asked questions and learned about issues such as pesticides, migration and immigration, wages and education. Students also helped out at a distribution day to provide farmworkers and their families basic necessities such as diapers, soap, and clothing, and shared a home-cooked meal at a farmworker’s house. They explored grocery stores in Santa Cruz to compare and contrast offerings and prices. Students were also given the opportunity to create a dish using strawberries or mushrooms (two of the most common crops in the area).
One of the big takeaways for students was learning how the children of migrant farmworkers are impacted by their parents’ work, which often means getting pulled out of school in the middle of the year when parents leave for picking jobs in other areas. From farmworkers to agribusiness, the week provided a real-world exploration into the complex world of agriculture where Head of Middle School Christina Pak says students began to understand how much is involved in getting a box of strawberries to the market, “I think our whole group realized how much we take for granted and it really made us appreciate not only our own fortune, but also better understand and empathize with farmworkers and farming”.
Let’s Represent (through Film):
How do you view the world? Hillbrook students in the “Let’s Represent” Reach Beyond Week experience, chose to look at the world through a camera lens for a week in order to understand the power of film and video to tell stories. The goal was to investigate perspectives and the power of representation through filmmaking, and, as a byproduct, to cultivate visual media literacy and skills.
During the week students developed filmmaking skills including production and editing, they learned how to tell a story using only visuals, they explored the ways in which the media can manipulate using visuals, edits and sounds. Students also explored Los Gatos on bicycle and on foot, viewing it as filmmakers and anthropologists might as they learned about ethnographic theory: which is the study of people, culture and everyday life, or as noted anthropologist Clifford Geertz famously stated in 1974 – how people collectively explain themselves…to themselves.
Students were split into two tracks: Telling and Listening. The Telling track crafted scripted videos designed to convey a message. The Listening track relied on the principles of ethnography to invite downtown Los Gatos to reveal itself through film. Student reaction to the week of film exploration showed their growing understanding of the power of film and video to teach us about ourselves, and also its power to manipulate. Erika (’19) describes what it felt like discovering that manipulating audio had been added to a clip to elicit a reaction, “Adding the audio makes it so sad. This is how the media manipulates you.” Amaan (’19) described his growing confidence as a filmmaker saying,“I realized I’m pretty good at video editing.”
Protecting Our Trails – Mountain Biking & Recovery:Can you push yourself to climb up a mountain on two wheels without bonking? Can you safely shred downhill without losing control of the bike? Can you go farther on a bike than you ever imagined? These were some of the questions students faced as they “reached beyond” themselves on a week-long mountain biking adventure in the Santa Cruz mountains. The answer after an exhausting week in the bike saddle, was a resounding “yes”!
The Future of San José: