Detroit Future Schools is an in-school digital media arts program committed to humanizing schooling in Detroit and beyond. We work in a small number of anchor schools where we develop and evaluate core instructional practices. We then share our best practices through the DFS Network, a local and national network of teachers, artists and community members.
By the end of 2013, DFS has worked in 24 schools, where we’ve used digital media arts and critical pedagogy to cultivate essential skills in students, teachers, and teaching artists alike. Since our inception in 2011, we’ve worked with over 3,000 students and 25 teachers across the Metro-Detroit area, employed 10 teaching artists, and produced dozens of student media projects. DFS has demonstrated alasting positive impact on individuals that we work with. We were recently featured in a story on Michigan Radio.
Here are two quotes from DFS participants:
As an 8th grader, I never thought I had the power to change my city. But with DFS, I see I can start with myself and my class then eventually the city...I learned that it’s not always about you – you have to care about the community and what’s going on outside of your home and your situations because if you don’t, then you won’t know what’s going on. It’s not just about watching news, because you’re just watching what’s going on, you’re not actually helping. – 8th grade DFS student
Immersion in the DFS network dramatically transformed how I conceptualize my role as an educator and my own vision for how a successful classroom functions. Before DFS, I had a much lower bar for measuring success. Since DFS, I look for elements of rigorous engagement, character development and student leadership to signify the success of my classroom. – DFS Teacher
In Detroit Future Schools, we understand our community as an ecosystem comprised of many interdependent systems, people, and structures. Strategies for addressing a problem within our ecosystem must consider the whole network of relationships that feed its existence and are fed by it. Similarly, effective solutions must be supported by the whole ecosystem.
In this spirit, DFS is seeking sustainers to help us grow our work.
The schools we are working in are strapped for funds. Likewise, relying on grants and foundations leaves DFS susceptible to financial instability. We cap the amount we ask from our schools and work hard to seek funding elsewhere in order to not only grow our work in schools, but also share our work through a number of free and low-cost gatherings open to all educators, students, parents, and artists across the nation.
As a sustainer, your automatic monthly recurring donation will allow us to:
- grow our work in our anchor schools without increasing the cost to them
- organize yearly Network Gatherings which are open and free to the public
- continue to offer the DFS Rida Institute to educators all over the nation
- develop a DFS online resources so that we can open-source our resources, practices and toolkit for educators and community members
We accept monthly contributions at any level, you can give $1 per month or $100. You can also make a one-time donation if you prefer.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP AS A DFS SUSTAINER
We appreciate your support! It means the world to us.
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