Students Join Hands to Show Community Partnership

Students at Seymour Dual Language Academy formed a human chain, joining hands to show the links between the community and the school during a recent event. Their chain stretched from their school at 108 Shonnard St., to La Casita Cultural Center, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse.

“Hand-in-Hand’’ celebrates the culmination of a year of creativity-centered learning through a curriculum called “Seymourofus’’ (see-more-of-us). Students this year looked at ways they belong to many different communities. Among the subjects that were covered:

5th graders interviewed more than 50 professionals, from judges to air traffic controllers.

4th graders visited historic New York sites and did work with the Onondaga County Historical Association.

3rd graders studied world cultures and planned events at La Casita Cultural Center.

After linking hands the students passed hoops from one end of the human chain to the other to demonstrate how people work together to grow strong relationships.

The “Hand-in-Hand’ celebration coincided with the “Places of Belonging’’ exhibit at La Casita. The exhibit runs through June 30th.

Seymourofus is funded by a grant from JP Morgan Chase and matched by resources from the Syracuse Teachers Association, Syracuse Education Foundation, Syracuse University Department of Art Education, Say Yes and L Casita Cultural Center. The project began as a school reform initiative with Partners for Arts Education. Teaching artists Oscar Garces, Roberto Perez, Rebecca Jackson, Emily Puccia-Colasacco, Diane Schenendoah and Laura Reeder worked with the students for the 2011-2012 school year.

You can see a video of the students in action on YNN.com