After-school program empowers middle schoolers to engage with community

An after-school program in Clarke County School District (CCSD) is giving students the tools to explore the power of art and community activism.

After a hiatus due to COVID, middle school ESOL students at Coile Middle School will once again realize the power of their voices thanks to a program developed by the UGA Mary Frances Early College of Education in collaboration with 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a federally funded program that provides after-school services and programs.

The partnership began in 2010 with the aim of collaborating with both CCSD teachers and students through participatory activities, including mapping, coding, poetry, and theater.

“Our goal is to position the youth members of our project as civic leaders who can shape a vision of what they want for their future and share with others their dreams for the school, for the communities where they live, and for our country,” said professor Ruth Harman, who developed the program. “We are all learning together, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding, but always relating together in dynamic ways as an intergenerational group of people who care for each other.”

Harman and Kevin Burke, also a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, are leading the partnership this semester, which will support up to 30 bilingual learners as they engage in arts-based activities and community building.

“We think of schools as intersections of communities, and certainly it would behoove us and benefit our students and teachers a great deal to build stronger communities within schools,” said Burke. “But I think our greater sense as faculty members is to support students and teachers in CCSD by helping to foster a greater sense of community, which can happen within the school and beyond.”

Naanhee Kim (M.Ed. ’21, Ph.D. ’27) and Michael Gray (Ph.D. ’27), doctoral students in the College’s TESOL and world language education program, are also collaborating with art teachers and students at Coile Middle School as part of the team at UGA.

“I want students to know that art is a form of expression that can also represent how one feels,” said Kim. “Through different art activities, we can see students help one another regardless of language barriers. By showing empathy, compassion, and patience, we can all communicate with one another.”

In addition to designing community-building and art-based activities, Kim and Gray serve as a source of trust for the students as they learn to foster a sense of belonging and teamwork.

In previous years, students in the after-school program participated in various projects that engaged them directly with their school community. Together, they advocated for a new marquee at the school to announce upcoming events, as well as for food trucks and resources for track and field.

Before presenting their projects in a manner of their choosing—which has ranged from visual art to legislative theater in the past—students are encouraged to think critically about the social issues they care about and how they might advocate for change.

“Ultimately, our hope is that they are given different ways to articulate what they value and what they would change in their community,” said Burke. “Because often we find that different modes will open different opportunities for expression, while certain modes close it off for kids as well. I think that our hope is that they start to see themselves as experts in whatever they choose to investigate and evaluate because it’s about making an argument.”

The program is in its first session since COVID and is expected to continue growing in the coming semesters, with plans for more student-driven projects and potential research components that could offer valuable insights into youth activism and arts-based learning.

For now, students are encouraged to continue using their voices to advocate for positive change—and perhaps, to inspire others to do the same.

“The kids are so clever and love to talk,” said Gray. “Witnessing their joy in participating and being heard highlights the value of semi-structured, extracurricular activities that encourage learning outside a purely academic setting. The insights I’ve gained here will shape my approach as an educator, reinforcing my goal to blend entertainment with education to enhance language engagement and foster a lifelong love for learning.”