Gordon Parks High School celebrates 10th anniversary in March

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Gordon Parks High School (GPHS) plans to celebrate its 10th anniversary in March with a week of special events.
GPHS is the largest of seven alternative day school programs in the St. Paul Public Schools district. Founded in 1991, the school was originally called the St. Paul Area Learning Center. It was renamed the Unidale Alternative Learning Center after the local strip mall it operated in. When the rented space became too small, the district constructed a new $7.5 million, 34,000-square-foot facility.
“We re-named ourselves from Unidale to Gordon Parks High School after moving from the corner of University and Dale to 1212 University,” recalled GPHS Curriculum and Media Arts Coordinator Paul Creager.
The new school was dedicated on March 6, 2008, just one day and two years after school namesake Gordon Parks died at age 93.
“Our interest in naming the school Gordon Parks was built around his legacy of living in St. Paul, and using the arts to transform his life and fight against racism and classism,” explained Creager.
“Since that time, our staff has led internal reform to create a brand of alternative instruction that attempts to reinvest student interest in lifelong learning. After a decade of this work, we have many more miles to go to reach our goal, but we want to recognize accomplishments.”
Carrying on the legacy of Gordon Parks
St. Paul native Gordon Parks’ life and work as a photographer, film-maker, writer, and civil rights activist provides the school with a model for the thoughtful, active, and successful citizens staff are dedicated to helping students become, according to the 10th-anniversary website gordonparks10.blogspot.com.
The school offers flexible programming, media-infused courses and curriculum, a supportive advisory program to help keep students on track for graduation, and a host of community partnerships, internships, and job support activities that use Gordon Parks’ life as an inspiration and guide.
As a small, orderly, and friendly school, staff work to make it impossible for students to be invisible or to get lost in the shuffle.
Gordon Parks High School is proud to carry on Parks’ legacy by infusing media activism and the arts into core subject areas. Like Parks himself, the staff strives to help students choose the most effective intellectual “weapons” that will transform their prospects and the world.
Students can fulfill state and district graduation standards requirements in many ways—from studying documentary film and nonfiction writing with the English department, to hands-on applied experiences in algebra and chemistry and community-based art, social studies, and environmental studies programs.
At Gordon Parks, students are expected to practice thinking in real ways as a part of their daily school experience. They are expected to be full participants in their own educations and to take themselves and their possibilities seriously.
GPHS offers a range of programs that meet the needs of about 200 students between the ages of 16 and 21, regardless of their current level of academic progress or educational achievement.
The school offers an 8:30am start time, with flexible, year-round, academic programs. Since implementing a three-week grading and curriculum cycle, attendance increased by 100 percent although daily attendance is about 50 percent.
To meet student needs the school has social workers, counselors, special education teachers, educational assistants, and on-the-job training.
This wide range of support services encourages lifelong learning while taking into account family situations, parenting concerns, employment schedules, and housing issues.
The school is also home to an evening high school and offers online classes to accommodate full-time and dual-enrolled students, as well as students who are working.
The school is geared towards students who are pregnant or parents; struggling with chemical dependency, mental health problems, or abuse; behind a grade level or two; limited in English proficiency; or homeless.
“We’re not bad kids,” remarked 17-year-old LaDavia Allcorn, who is a senior at GPHS. “People learn different ways. People don’t all learn by sitting in a little box and writing all the time. For me, I can’t sit there.” Instead, Allcorn has gotten involved in the various projects at the school, including creating a park next door to the school, and also serves on the leadership team. She appreciates how school staff has encouraged her to get involved.
She’ll graduate later this year, but she knows she’ll be back. “I’m not done,” said Allcorn. “I’m coming back to help this school.”
Celebration week events
Tues., Mar. 6 is slated as Gordon Parks Legacy Day at GPHS. The day will include comments from the Parks family, as well as showing of “Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks.”
On Wed., Mar. 7, “The Learning Tree Day,” students are encouraged to create art projects that will be displayed at a gala on Friday. “The Learning Tree,” a film written and directed by Gordon Parks in 1969, will be shown several times throughout the day. Community guests are welcome from 3-6:30pm.
Civic Engaged Storytelling Day is set for Thur., Mar. 8 with activities from 12:30-3pm. Mario Sprouse, Gordon Parks’ personal music arranger for 25 years, will be among the special guests that day. Presentations will focus on the intersection of civic engagement, storytelling, and curriculum. History of GPHS curriculum about Parks’ autobiography, “A Choice of Weapons,” will be given.
Gordon Parks Gala at the St. Paul Hotel will take place on Fri., Mar. 10, 6-9:30pm. It will include a three-course meal, silent auction, live music, a vibrant student-led showcase of projects and performances, as well as curriculum highlights from the last ten years. Special guests include Mario Sprouse and Gordon Park’s son David Parks. The evening features acclaimed Twin Cities actor and playwright Ronald Collier, who will read selections of Parks’ literary works.
Individuals tickets for the gala are $100. Or sponsor a table for $1,000; this includes five tickets for your organization and five tickets for students. Purchase tickets at spps.org/gordonparks-tickets.
Learn how community members, local businesses, and students can be involved in the celebration by contacting principal Traci Gauer at 651-744-1212.

Park names whittled down to three after community vote

Gordon Parks High School students play role in shaping and digging into park’s history by collecting votes

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Again and again, students at Gordon Parks High School (GPHS) have worked to make sure citizens are involved in the journey to transform a vacant lot next to their school into a five-acre park.
GPHS, along with the Skyline Tower apartment complex and Union Park District Council, expressed concern about the park name selection process being planned by the city earlier this year, pointed out Curriculum & Media Arts Coordinator Paul Creager.
“As a result, we helped organize a process that resulted in a huge increase in community participation, with numerous voting sites in the neighborhood adjacent to the future park,” said Creager. “We want to empower community.”
512 vote on top three names
The school served as a voting location for students and parents, as well as for nearby Midway residents.
Citizens were asked to give input on 15 possible park names. These 15 names originated from several community engagement activities in 2016-2017, where over 100 name ideas were gathered. Of those, 15 names met city of St. Paul criteria and were the most popular, including: All Nations/New Nations, Family (Lakota: Tiospaya or Tiwahe), Freedom, Gordon, Green, Harmony, International, Lexington-Hamline, Midway, Mosaic, Peace (Arabic: Salam), People (Somali: Bulsho), Union, Unity (Sanskrit: Samadhi) and University.
The voting process whittled the 15 options down to the most popular five in November: Peace Park, Midway Park, Mosaic Park, Tiwahe Park, and Unity Park.
At two meetings in December, one held at Skyline Towers and the other at the regular Union Park District Council Board meeting site, citizens agreed to forward three names to the city’s park and recreation commission.
The community voting process resulted in 512 votes being cast for Peace, Unity, and Midway.
St. Paul parks and recreation will recommend to the city council one name this month.
In the past, students have referred to the park as Three Ring Gardens after its long history of housing circuses, while the city labeled it Lexington Commons.
In 2016, with $1.5 million from the city’s 8-80 Vitality Fund, The Trust for Public Land put together the purchase of the three parcels that will become a 5-acre park as part of the group’s focus on more green space along the light rail line. The land was then conveyed to the city.
The park is still in the fundraising stage, and will hopefully be developed in late 2018.
Students and neighbors envision a playground, outdoor classroom/amphitheater, indoor gardening space and a community orchard at this property that sits 17 feet higher than University Ave. and offers a unique overlook of nearby treetops and rooftops.
It will be a park that champions open space, equity and access.
According to a green space assessment, just 2.3 percent of the area is dedicated to parkland, although parks make up an average of 15 percent of St. Paul. The new park will be within a 10-minute walk of more than 2,600 residents—including the residents of Skyline Tower, who are largely East African immigrants.
Student engagement
“Our work on the future park at Griggs is an example of civically engaged storytelling-approaches to curriculum,” remarked Creager. “Highly engaging, state-standard aligned curriculum is available in the community around a school and doesn’t need to be purchased from Pearson Inc. and Scholastic. For students, interaction with this park project boosted their sense of civic agency, and familiarity with the processes of championing community change.”
Photo right: Gordon Parks High School English teacher Jamie Tomlin collects ideas for park names during a student-led event on the future park property held in 2017. These names were then whittled down to 15, then five, and finally three that were forwarded to the parks and recreation department. The three finalists were Peace, Unity, and Midway. In all, 512 votes were cast on the names. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
Creager added, “For the educators involved, the project gave us an opportunity to apply learning in a relevant, tangible way, and show that schools can play a vital role in the communities where they are located.”
GPHS remains dedicated to staying informed regarding ongoing park work through the Trust for Public Land and city of St. Paul.
Although 17-year-old LaDavia Allcorn will graduate this spring, she plans to come back and assist with the park. “I’m not done,” she said. “That park isn’t built yet.”
The park caught Allcorn’s attention the very first day she attended GPHS as a sophomore, and ever since she’s been working to make the park a reality. She’s so glad for the opportunity through GPHS to get credit for “doing something amazing like this.” Working through the process of getting a park created has been an eye-opener for her.
“I’m ready for that park to be built,” said Allcorn. She’s excited for the day when she can bring her kids to the park and let them know she helped make it happen.
It is a park that the school and nearby community need, according to Allcorn, who recently helped garner votes on the park name. Personally, she favored the name “Our Park,” because, as she explained, “It’s everyone’s park.”
Allcorn pointed out that parks are beneficial in many ways, and she’s looking forward to students being able to have a space to spread out a blanket, take a break from school, and enjoy the mental health benefits associated with green space.
“They deserve that,” stated Allcorn, who observed that this park might be something small for others, but it’s something big for them.
Soil analysis at park site
GPHS students have also begun collaborating with Kat Hayes, an anthropology professor at the University of Minnesota, and her grad students.
“The future parkland has a unique history, and some of the soil is relatively undisturbed,” stated Creager.
Students have done archaeological mapping projects on the property.
The archaeology curriculum includes components such as biology modules using bone casts and teaching bones from the university’s anthropology department labs. A demonstration was given on LIDAR (light detection and ranging), a noninvasive way to record and assess the site, as well as a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) module, that gave students a chance to see how this technology is used in the field.
Students also learned how archaeologists set up sites and document everything in 3D space.
Under the direction of GPHS science teacher Joel Abdella, students have recently begun conducting a soil analysis project.
This project and the future park space has “helped begin years of science and social studies curricular inquiry,” said Creager. “These projects also create a shareable class experience that will help inspire more taxpayer support to leverage policymaker involvement with thoughtful school change, and inspire students and staff to keep pushing for the educational reform our schools need.”
Creager added, “Kat is also an incredible fit for us because she brings a deep background of exploring sensitive racial and economic histories into archaeological inquiry.”
Participants appreciate this project because it involves so many things—historical research, contemporary social relevance of urban planning, questions of environmental justice, applications of science and math to real-world problems, and thinking about how to commemorate the past.

Copyright © Monitor Saint Paul

‘Real work’ is an integral part of Gordon Park High School’s curriculum and focus on civic engagement

Students work to transform vacant lot into community park

Article and photos by TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
For Gordon Parks High School (GPHS) students Jay Alrich and Alyssa Castillo (photo right), advocating for a park next to their school at 421 N. Griggs St. has been part of their coursework. (photo right), advocating for a park next to their school at 421 N. Griggs St. has been part of their coursework.
This sort of ‘real work’ is an integral part of the alternative learning center’s emphasis on civic engagement for historically underserved students, according to GPHS teacher Jamie Tomlin.
Alrich is a park listener. “My job is to ask people what they want here,” he explained. He solicits inputs at events, from teachers and students, and when he’s out in the community.
The entire process has been very community-based, according to Castillo. They’ve worked to involve the predominately Somali residents of Skyline Towers across the street, as well as Hmong neighbors.
“It’s not just a school thing,” said Castillo. They’re also working to pull together community members who didn’t know each other before.
Photo left: Gordon Parks High School English teacher Jamie Tomlin collects ideas for park names during an event on May 25, 2017.
This park will be the nearest park for residents, pointed out Alrich.
“I grew up in the neighborhood here,” said Castillo, who now lives in East St. Paul. “We had to trek to find a park.” She added that the nearest park is about a mile away. This one will be much more convenient.
“We hope it will come out as beautiful as we’ve planned,” said Castillo. “This park is going to be beautiful and amazing and everything the community wants and more.”
Students have referred to the park as Three Ring Gardens, while the city has labeled it Lexington Commons. Suggestions for the final name were collected from the community during a student-organized event on May 25 at the site, which is located between University and St. Anthony avenues. The event also included live entertainment, food, historical information, and projects by students.
Another event organized by the Trust for Public Land, Union Park Neighborhood Group, and Lexington-Hamline Community Council is planned for July 31.
Connections
For students, part of the journey has included delving into the history of the parcel. They learned that the space was once known as Circus Hill. Beginning in 1890, the circus returned to Circus Hill every year until 1965. The site’s two parcels were then used primarily for storage of overflow vehicles from both an auto body shop and the former Whitaker dealership. Most recently, the city used the land for snow storage.
As part of the process, students produced a documentary about the history of the land in 2010, and talked to neighborhood resident Nancy Bailey about her memories of the circus.
GPHS students have also worked with University of Minnesota Professor Catherine Squires to collect and digitize stories of local elders.
Photo left: Welcome to the future park. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
“How do you keep a sense of community?” asked Tomlin, when you have neighborhoods like Rondo that were destroyed when I-94 ripped through it. Students tried to answer that question in the Legacy Class she co-teaches with Curriculum & Media Arts Coordinator Paul Creager.
“Along with the Trust for Public Land, we are gathering community awareness of the future park,” said Creager. “We think this is a great story of community-led green space development.”
Mural plants seed
Students have been talking about transforming the three vacant lots next door into a park for years, but the ball really got rolling when some students started attending community events with a mural they created under the direction of artist Peyton Scott Russell.
Photo right: Artist Peyton Scott Russell, Gordon Parks High School teachers Ted Johnson and Tom Davies, and former student Khalique Rogers talk about how the mural behind them helped students connect with their communities through the arts.
The founder of Juxtaposition Arts and Sprayfinger, as well as a 2012-2014 Bush Leadership Fellow, Russell was the first person to teach graffiti as an art form in the Twin Cities. Through a Forecast Public Art program in 2013-2014, Russell encouraged Gordon Park High School students to focus on a project through which young people could interact and connect with their communities through the arts.
Through the process, Russell asked students to consider how they communicate in different ways. The resulting mural shows eight people looking down at their phones with a text message conversation on one side.
“I love the idea of text speak,” remarked Russell. “It is redefining the written language.”
GPHS students discussed how ideas depicted on the mural evoke concerns that matter to the St. Paul community at large during a Creative Placemaking tour lead by urban planner Gil Penalosa of 8-80 Cities. “At the time, we didn’t really envision what it would bring to the school,” recalled former GPHS student Khalique Rogers. But that exposure prompted a private donor to step forward and pledge to make the new park happen.
“It’s really cool to see the seed planted years ago grown into what it is today with perseverance and hard work,” said Rogers, who resides in the Como neighborhood.
Last year, with $1.5 million from the city’s 8-80 Vitality Fund, The Trust for Public Land put together the purchase of the three parcels that will become a 5-acre park as part of the group’s focus on more green space along the light rail line. The land has since been conveyed to the city.
The city has yet to develop a final design or determine who will serve as stewards of the land, although Tomlin hopes that students will continue to play a role. “Keeping them involved is key,” she stated.
Students and neighbors envision a playground, outdoor classroom/amphitheater, indoor gardening space and a community orchard at this property that sits 17 feet higher than University Ave and offers a unique overlook of nearby tree tops and roof tops.
It will be a park that champions open space, equity and access.