This week and throughout the weekend I'm grading the final presentations of students enrolled in this semester's Criminal Justice & Youth Outreach (CJYO) course subtitled Creative Expression in Juvenile Detention. The final project is the CJYO Digital Program Presentation and consisted of a semester long study of a creative expression program, juvenile facility, and the community (or communities) from which they coexist. Students posted their presentation on the Canvas Learning Management System Discussion Board and have been reflecting on their research and the presentations of fellow students throughout the month of December. The presentation sections include an Introduction, Responsive Essay, a Demographic Profile of the Program Location utilizing the U.S. Census, research of the Facility's History, a Creative Expression Program Profile, Bibliography & Notes, along with staff interviews (if they were able to get in contact with a program representative), and the sharing of digital multimedia such as Soundcloud audios & YouTube videos.
My grading process engages in conversation with the students about their findings and gives me the chance to share resources I discovered reviewing their presentations.
This project provides students an opportunity to understand the purpose of creative expression programs, their history, and present day involvement in communities all around the nation (and in the UK and Australia). In other semesters of CJYO studies also focused on examining creative justice programs from around the world.
It's a great opportunity to take the time to study and acknowledge what is out there. As an undergraduate, one of the most pivotal moments in my educational career was learning about programs and people that shared a common interest with what motivated me to get involved in the justice system. It's a great way to understand how advocacy and creativity function in a system as stringent as corrections and as detached from the community as some juvenile justice systems are. It's also about helping students develop what I call their research personality so that they can include a piece of themselves in what they're learning/presenting. Whether it has to do with their personal views and experiences of the justice system, or the next steps in their own justice journey.
To me its a unique way to bring online learning to life and to hold each other accountable to the information we're taking in. I feel there is a sense of responsibility in how we present ourselves to the justice system, whether we aspire to work for it, change it, or both.
Therefore, in the next couple of days, you will see a variety of posts throughout the day, early morning, and on into the night about programs and facilities around the United States including links, videos, audios, newspaper attachments, and other.
A special thanks to the students of CJYO 2014. This is tenth course I've facilitated as an adjunct instructor at NMSU with a group that makes up an enrollment body of 124 students solely for CJYO. There are also enrollments for students of The Beat Within (TBW) courses and the Juvenile Justice Outreach & Community Education (JJOCE) courses during the summer. In the Spring, we'll also be welcoming the beginning of a newly developed course titled Criminal Justice & Families (CJF), Understanding the Prison Family Journey. This course will be co-facilitated with the authors of The Unvarnished Truth About the Prison Family Journey, Carolyn Esparza and Phillip Don Yow, Sr. with the goal of not only engaging in a close reading + discussion of the text... but also contributing to the development of a community resource guide, student guide, and teacher guide during the summer and Fall of 2015.
I'd like to congratulate all students celebrating this evening after the commencement ceremony this afternoon and to those that will be returning next semester for CJF, we look forward to welcoming the new year with you.
Keywords
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