Fabian McGriff, Kayla Brown and Keith Brown, students from Urban Memory Projects at the Secondary School for Research (2009) and the Brooklyn School for Global Studies (2007), each documented the Gowanus Canal during their study of the issues facing that area of Brooklyn. Their photographs, along with approximately 200 others, have been posted as part of a New York Times blog documenting the Canal, in conjunction with the news of its Superfund status.
Teachers Michael Salak and Jessica Rofe, along with UMP staff, organized guest speakers, research time and photo walks around the community so that students would have a first-hand opportunity to observe and record their observations of the neighborhood and gather evidence to answer the question “What is the greater good for the Gowanus?” At the end of their unit, students debated the Gowanus’ fate in an academic seminar and role play debate, taking on the various perspectives of the community.
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