• Objectives
    • Support youth development (decrease fear and depression; increase learning)
    • Recognize interpretation (through arts) as the vehicle for discovery
    • Provoke curiosity to learn more
  • Method
    • Engage tactile and performative arts for different learning styles
    • Use a chosen theme to generate readings and artmaking (see How?)
    • Read aloud and ask questions
    • Participants follow their tangents to discover more connections with the theme
    • Meet regularly in groups with Pre-Texts facilitator (3x per week)
  • Target audience
    • Local youth who want to improve interpretive and leadership skills
    • ESL students
    • Immigrants learning English
    • Seniors who can support youth
  • Desired outcomes
    • Increased engagement in community stewardship projects
    • Maintenance of learning between academic years
    • Improved literacy scores in school (see Why?)
    • Richer intergenerational dialogue through Interpretation of history and nature

Literacy

  • Indicator of development in all fields (economic, political, emotional, etc.).
  • Stimulates imagination in order to comprehend texts.
  • Inspires personal expression.
  • Engages a range of experiences at a safe distance.

Innovation

  • Starts with creativity, a universal human drive.
  • Depends on facts and critical reflection.
  • Requires reinterpretation of given material.
  • Develops best with a diversity of proposals.

Civics

  • Derives from diversity as a source of pleasure.
  • Thrives on admiration of everyone for everyone.
  • Appreciates facts and critical reflections.
  • Recombines materials and experiences.