Youth Freedom Project
In 2016, with support from a grant from Dance USA, eight young directors at Everett took on their own projects around the theme of freedom. For one year, seasoned artists at Everett became the support team to each young artist’s project. Seven original works were the year’s outcome. All of these projects were then joined into one large presentation, Youth Freedom Project, performed at Everett Stage and various schools across Providence, RI. The results of the year of work were both fine art and a reality check.
McKenzie Langella designed her senior school project around the collection and performance of true stories by middle school students at Nathanael Greene Middle School. McKenzie and other Everett youth performed these stories in the hour long presentation. Other stories told belonged to the actors themselves. McKenzie’s work with middle school students found that the children are all saying the same thing, “Listen to me... I’m going through something.” During Everett’s Youth Freedom Project performances, they were listened to, seen, and understood.
The Obama Administration’s bold idea: Billions from prisons to schools. Lock up fewer people who get arrested for nonviolent crimes and give the money you save to students and teachers. Break the school to prison pipeline. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. And we must remember that we cannot teach a student who is not in school. "In the last three decades, state and local correctional spending in this country has increased almost twice as fast as spending on elementary and secondary education. Ask yourself, “What does that say about what we believe?"
Project Photos
