Hey Urbanites! This is a quick video to let you know what we’re looking forward to during the week of FYSOP.
Can’t wait to see you there!
Urban Renewal: Where we’re going
Hey Urbanites!
We decided to give you a little preview of what three of our sites will be for Urban Renewal. Some of you will be going to these sites throughout the week of FYSOP because they’re places making important changes to improve Boston communities. Check ‘em out after the jump:
Urban Renewal: If You’ve Been Wondering…
Happy Friday everyone!
We’ve posted two pages to our blog with additional content about what Urban Renewal is, how it’s affecting Boston and what we’re doing about the issues in the city. Check ‘em out when you get a chance:
Urban Renewal: Drawing Defining Lines
In the meantime, keep checking back for other tidbits about FYSOP, Boston, and Urban Renewal – we’ll be posting about three very special sites soon!
Urban Renewal: Our Speakers
A big part of FYSOP is what we call Education Day: the Tuesday before service starts when incoming students get a chance to learn more about their issue area and how their service will make a meaningful difference in the Boston community.
Because our focus is on how skills, setting and social environment contribute to community development, our speakers are all relevant to one of those aspects of Urban Renewal. We’re breaking our groups down into 30-minute “mini-panels” where students will get a chance to ask our speakers how and why they’re trying to change Boston.
What we’d like you to do is leave comments with questions you have for our panelists – it can be related to their professional work, their experiences in Boston, or Urban Renewal in general. We want our Education Day to be an open discussion about the problems facing Boston, and we want to include what you’re most interested in. Check out the information about our panels after the break, then leave us a comment or send us an email at fysopur22@gmail.com with any questions you have for our panels. Read more
Painting the town…
Wish we could do this throughout Boston:
We’ll have a full-length blog post for you on Tuesday, so be sure to check back!
Ted Talks: Majora Carter on Greening the Ghetto
Hey Urbanites!
This is a quick post of a video we found while researching Urban Renewal. Majora Carter spearheaded a project to bring the first open waterfront park to the South Bronx in 60 years; this talk focuses on environmental inequality and how setting is a huge part of building a community.
URBAN RENEWAL: Let’s get artsy
Right now all of the sites we have confirmed for FYSOP are new to the Urban Renewal issue area! For this blog we want to spotlight one of our epic sites. We recently visited the Jackson Mann Elementary school, a Boston Public School, and got a chance to be shown around the property and surrounding Allston area by Sergeant O’Hara of the Allston Police Department.
We learned so much about the issue of graffiti in this particular area. Sergeant O’Hara explained to us how all kinds of property is vandalized from post office boxes to dumpsters.
A lot of this graffiti is filled with offensive or profane statements. What was really shocking was not just that it is all over the streets but even in a kid’s playground at Jackson Mann Elementary. Principal Tuite and Sergeant O’Hara said they have noticed that when they put up murals and constructive art it deters graffiti artists from vandalizing the work. There is a certain respect for other artwork. So instead of continuing to clean this wall…
…we are going to paint it! This project encompasses everything we love about Urban Renewal. It is going to beautify some of Boston’s urban space as well as enhance the place that community is developed. The kids will see this mural everyday as they play on the playground. What will we paint you ask?! Well, that is still up in the air but the two of us are having fun just imaging what we could come up with!
Disclaimer: we are not professional muralers….yet.
Urban Renewal: Our Vision
We made this video to give you a better idea of what our vision is for this year. We’re focusing on community development, with emphasis on three important factors: skills, setting, and social environment. This video also gives you somewhat of an intro to Boston and its different neighborhoods.
Urban Renewal: Intro
Hey! Here’s a little intro to us and our issue area:
