Here we are in week three of Club Photo’s Spring semester, and I thought it was due time for me to write about the program that has changed my life for the better, and tied me to my hometown of Seattle.
Club Photo is an after-school program that provides free photography classes to immigrant and refugee teens at Seattle’s World School. This is my third year teaching Club Photo, and the program is in its 7th year, currently including students from Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, El Salvador, Honduras & Mexico. Students at the World School come from every corner of the world, representing a total number of twenty-six languages. Many World School students are political or economic refugees who have experienced trauma, deprivation, and/or victimization before they arrived in Seattle. Few of these students have received any form of education prior to arriving at the school.
Club Photo teaches students photography, offering an opportunity to tell their stories, speak English and acclimate to a dramatically different culture. Club Photo students develop a visual language that communicates concepts that are difficult to express verbally, allowing viewers to step into their worlds, both private and public. The personal growth that results from this program is phenomenal. Students gain self-confidence, make friends with peers from other language groups, and learn a new form of artistic expression. Due to recent cuts in arts funding, Club Photo is the only remaining after school arts program being offered at the World School, and received only one fourth of its annual funding this year, making our program in dire need of your support.
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