Local Students Learn Literacy Through Photography
Exibhit of elementary school student photographs opens Monday
With the assistance of Duke students from the Center for Documentary Studies, six classes of local Durham elementary school children have spent the spring learning about their life through photography.
Those photographs will go on exhibit beginning Monday at the Emily Krzyzewski Center, 904 W. Chapel Hill Street, Durham. An opening exhibit will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at the Krzyzewski Center. The photos will be on display through May 28.
Students from Durham's Club Boulevard Elementary School participated with Duke students in the CDC's Literacy Through Photography (LTP) program, which challenges children to explore their world as they photograph scenes from their lives and use their images as catalysts for verbal and written expression.
The scenes are framed around four thematic explorations -- self-portrait, community, family and dreams. LTP promotes an expansive use of photography across different curricula and disciplines, building on the information that children naturally possess and connecting them with broader perspectives and ways of communicating. Students furthermore gain new ways of viewing themselves and their communities.
LTP was launched in 1990 by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, working in collaboration with the Durham Public Schools. As part of the program, LTP staff members teach a multidisciplinary undergraduate course that includes a semester-long internship in the Durham Public Schools.
During the spring of 2008 10 Duke students, along with six teachers at Club Boulevard Elementary School, carried out classroom-based LTP projects. More than 140 third- through fifth-graders participated. On display in this exhibition are their self-portraits, their community photographs, and their writings.
Participating Durham Teachers: Denise Baynham, Lisa Lord, Jennifer Medley, Stephen Mullaney, Erin Pattishall, Jennifer Triplehorn
Participating Duke Students: Shari Baker, Liz Brady, Anna Cassell, Teresa Cho, Priya Khatri, Jen Kozin, Lindsay Kunkle, Kaitlin Rogers, Michael Wood, Kathryn Wooten