Through The Lens of NOLA Youth
Save Our Schools New Orleans recognized the absence of youth voices in conversations regarding the School Facilities Master Plan. In reaction to this, SOSNOLA participated in development of a unique youth empowerment project that engaged students in visual exercises to explore and articulate through documentary photography their concerns and aspirations regarding current public school conditions. The program culminated with an exhibition of the student’s work, during which they had the opportunity to talk in a public forum about their photographs, effectively combining their visual and verbal messages regarding the future of public schools.
The 5-month-long mentorship involved a wealthy collaboration of local youth organizations, including Rethink, Youthanasia, YA-YA, Vietnamese American Young Leadership Association (VAYLA), New Orleans Kid Camera Project and Critical Exposure. This project also served as a vehicle to develop partnerships with youth organizations for capacity building among this group of constituents.
Paul L. Dunbar Collaborative
In the impoverished Hollygrove community, Paul L. Dunbar School sits with boards nailed over windows. The evidence of Hurricane Katrina's floodwater remains and is compounded by the facility’s poorly maintained campus. SOSNOLA has proudly partnered with Hollygrove Neighbors, Carrollton United, Hollygrove ACORN, Trinity Christian Community, Carrollton-Hollygrove Community Development Corporation, Mount Rock Church, AARP and Hollygrove-Carrollton area residents to create the Paul L. Dunbar Collaborative. SOSNOLA helps the Collaborative identify and implement the community's vision for redeveloping and reopening Paul L. Dunbar School as a high quality school in the most time and cost efficient manner.
In August 2007, SOSNOLA coordinated a proposal to redevelop Dunbar school as a “QuickStart” site for City Council District A. QuickStart was the Recovery School District’s plan to rebuild and reopen one closed public school site in each of the five city council districts by Fall 2009. Though the plan was solid and endorsed by the local state representative and school board member, the District chose a different school for redevelopment that sits only within a few blocks of another recently renovated school. Once the School Facilities Master Plan was released, the Hollygrove community was further disappointed to find Dunbar would be rebuilt in Phase 2 which is not planned for until sometime after 2013 and is completely unfunded.
SOSNOLA continues to work with leaders and residents to identify and develop innovative public-private partnerships so as to reasonably advance the redevelopment project while engaging the community to aptly identify the community’s vision for the new school.
In May 2009 the Collaborative discovered that a demolition order permit application for Dunbar had been filed by the Recovery School District unbeknownst to the community members. Amid concerns of residents, SOSNOLA and the Collaborative began hosting regular neighborhood meetings to gauge community response, and have determined that the community does not favor demolition of Dunbar. Efforts are underway to fight the demolition until a solid assessment of the facilities is completed and a community driven plan with funding is in place to rebuild the school.
