‘Peace of the Arts’ program offers after-school opportunities for at-risk young people

GOSHEN, Ind. – After a 2005 gang shooting in Goshen, members of the local community and Goshen College faculty sought to examine issues surrounding violence in society, and attempted to find a way to encourage young people to find healthy alternatives.

Sonny Carreño, director of the college’s Lavender Jazz band, formed an idea of a program that would entertain and teach youth by combining an after-school curriculum with the arts.

Odelet Nance, director of multicultural affairs, expanded on Carreño’s idea and proposed the program, Peace of the Arts. In it, Nance advocated the need for an alternative after-school program that was designed to “cultivate self esteem, inter-cultural dialogue and awareness” through students’ participation in either the performing arts or visual art workshops.

In these programs, students from Goshen middle and high schools could concentrate in photography, freelance drawing, collage-making, performance poetry and short essay writing. The weekly workshops focused on different themes around which the students based their creations.

The youth met for five Wednesdays in January and February on the college’s campus to discuss topics ranging from sexism, racism and classism, and how their lives have been affected by different forms of oppression. Discussions prompted analysis and reflections intended to help students identify with each other and promote understanding through communication and peacemaking.

“It was more successful than I could have imagined,” said Nance. Not only did the program maintain its purpose and popularity for its intended length, it made Goshen College more accessible to high and middle school students and, in doing so, prompted many senior high school students to look into applying to Goshen, which, according to Nance, was not something they had anticipated happening.

David Martinez, a sophomore communication major from Goshen, worked as a volunteer mentor for the Peace of the Arts program and said he felt blessed through the younger students he met. “I was able to develop meaningful relationships,” he said. “Peace of the Arts was a way to bridge the gaps.”

Besides volunteers, the Peace of the Arts program hired student assistants from Goshen College to work with the kids in their different workshops. Morgan Kraybill, a first-year social work and peace, justice and conflict studies major from Harrisonburg, Va., was one of these. “Developing relationships with the kids is what gave me energy … their laughs, smiles and involvement made the hard work worth it,” she said.

As the majority of participants were Latino ESL students from Goshen middle and high schools, the Peace of the Arts gave the GC students an opportunity to also learn about another culture.

When Hillary Watson, a sophomore Bible and religion major from Seattle, Wash., got involved with the program she found the language barrier to be a challenge. “I once tried to explain my struggle to an older kid (and said), ‘I recognize the words when someone speaks, but I can’t make sense of them in my head,’” Watson said. “The student replied, ‘I know what you mean,’ and it wasn’t until then I realized I wasn’t the only person struggling to be bilingual. This helped me to relate to the students and find common ground.”

According to Nance, the Peace of the Arts program will be offered again during the spring semester of 2007. Next year’s program will expand in length and include guest speakers, yet continue the concentration of enabling students to explore their creativity while promoting peaceful ways of dealing with conflict.

– by Emily Dougherty, from The Record

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.