As a part of GPB Education’s new High School Graduation Initiative, existing programs and organizations focusing on the critical issue of Georgia’s High School Graduation Rates will be identified and partnered with for various projects. The Youth Art Connection (YAC), a program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, is one of the first groups that GPB Education is collaborating with in this developing initiative.
Working with the Boys & Girls Club/YAC gives GPB Education a unique opportunity to follow the adventures of individual high school students while they participate in the Beijing Project, a pioneering endeavor that will take students to Beijing, Xian and many other areas of China this summer.
In the preliminary meeting for the project held in January, GPB Education captured the initial reactions of the students selected to participate. These interviews will be used along with feedback collected from the students during the course of their experience to build a framework on how the project is impacting their views and goals.
GPB Education will also play a significant role in this program by aiding in the development of a method for participants to digitally transmit their impressions, feelings, questions and overall view about their encounters, while in China, to other youth in Georgia.
YAC Director, Rebecca DesMarias, describes the three components of the Beijing Project: 1 – five monthly meetings at YAC to prepare for the Trip; 2 – the Trip to Beijing, Xian and other areas of China; 3 – outreach to Boys & Girls Club members about China and the Xian Terracotta Warriors during fall 2008/winter 2009 in conjunction with the exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors at the High Museum of Art.
