How it Works
Beyond
Borders
Beyond
Borders: Literacy Through Performing Arts provides literacy
residencies, arts exposure, and academic intervention to
schools and colleges. The program serves over 26,000 students,
teachers, parents, and community members every year.
In
working to address the unique academic literacy needs of
participating students--needs that commonly appear in young
people living on the margins of America's social, cultural,
and economic systems--Beyond Borders incorporates Culturally
Responsive Process Drama (CRPD) to improve the quantity
of academic achievement and the quality of structured learning.
CRPD is both methodology and philosophy, utilizing the tools,
vocabulary, and processes of arts practitioners to capture
and maintain the learning potential of student participants.
The investigation of art and drama is not an "enrichment"
activity; rather, it is a core strategy for students progressing
towards an active, relevant interaction with text and language.
The student's participation grows from personal responses
to project activities that blend interactive instruction,
creative dramatics, and cultural application.
Enhancing
the program's educational successes are elements designed
as vocational and character models for disadvantaged and
minority students--students who typically lack exposure
to "career path" professionals. Beyond Borders
showcases outstanding role
models to help these young people not only to pattern their
lives but also to develop their visions for the future.
