Exploring the idea of identity, students watch the I Learn America documentary and relate to the struggles of its five vibrant young protagonists – They browse through the I Learn (Library) to connect the stories made through the project to their own life experience.

Students engage in “The Line” exercise, a creative jumping board from which to explore emotions and memories associated with past, present, and future events that shape their lives. Through this creative endeavor, they work with, speak and listen to each other “from the heart” then use literary elements to harness their own personal narrative about the experiences that shape their identity, relationships, and perspective on the world.

By merging their stories with arts (photography, poetry digital storytelling, songwriting, poetry, etc.), students collaborate in story-making labs and create new ways to express their experiences of coming of age in between cultures, building themselves in new lands and navigating their way through multiple languages. Using radical imagination, they shape their growth as they move through adolescence and define their individual and our collective future.

Students work collaboratively to deepen impact, amplify their voices and interact with audiences both within and outside schools through youth-led civic events and artistic interventions such as poetry slams, speeches, pop-up street art actions, interactive photography exhibitions, school assemblies, and more.