The Yearbook Diary Project
Posted by admin in 
I am spearheading a new initiative this year at Boyle Street. It’s ambitious, but I think we have the right mix of student interest, staff support, and technological know-how. In a word, we are producing BSEC’s first yearbook.
What we are producing, however, will not look like any yearbook you or I have on our shelves. What we are fundamentally creating is a diary of the school for a year. Rather than the regular rows of student images, we are building a collection of student writing, art, images, and memories. Weekly writing workshops have been the primary location for much student writing, but we are noticing that students are starting to take their composition journals with them and producing beautiful words and drawings on their own and without prompting. In fact, an increasing number of students are meeting regularly to talk about what should be in their book and, basically, how best to highlight those things that make learning at Boyle Street unique and preferable to other programs.
What’s exciting about the project is that it is entirely student-driven. Students conceived of the idea, sought staff support, and are organizing much of the buzz surrounding the project. In my experience, a common assumption people make about alternative programs is that the students cannot develop a sense of community since their paths are primarily driven by their own educational needs. What I see is contrary to that assumption; our students are just as interested as anyone else is in defining their own community. The “Yearbook Diary” is a place that I hope our students can showcase those things about their learning community that make them proud.
More to come as the project develops.
S