St. Louis Scores
ST. LOUIS SCORES
Training: February 6 - February 23, 2007; Third Ward Neighborhood Council Building;
Chinyere E. Oteh, Instructor, with co-instructor Aman Aulakh
Exhibition SITE #1: Marshall School
March 28 - April 20, 2007
Exhibition SITE #2: Third Ward Neighborhood Council Building
April 24 - May 25, 2007
Website: www.americascores.org/affiliates/st-louis
St. Louis SCORES, a local affiliate of America SCORES, began with a pilot program in the summer of 2005 and has since grown to serve over 200 poet-athletes in grades 3 to 5 in six St. Louis Public Schools. The program combines physical activity with creative arts in its aim to give youth a means of self-expression through soccer, creative writing, and service learning. Starting in the fall, students meet after school each day to play soccer and write poetry. In the spring, students participate in weekly soccer games and their creative focus shifts from poetry to writing about their community. They also design service-learning projects to address a specific community need and participate in a poetry slam. The spring season culminates in the SCORES annual spring soccer tournament. During the off-season, the Photography Project gave Bryan Hill Elementary School Scores participants a new way to express themselves through the photographic arts. Bryan Hill Scores participants were already familiar with writing and performing their own, often autobiographical, poetry. Co-Instructor Aman Aulakh and I found that photography and writing naturally complemented each other in assignments that centered on self-portraits, family, and community photography. Following the work of Wendy Ewald, in The Best Part of Me: Children Talk About Their Bodies In Pictures and Words, paired participants honed in on their favorite body parts. Much of their work was modeled after photographers like Carrie Mae Weems and Milton Rogovin, whose work the participants studied prior to assignments. By the time the final photo shoot took place, participants had left behind their early uncertainty and raced against time to explore all of the poses, backgrounds and angles they could possibly fit into an afternoon.
--Chinyere E. Oteh, Photography Project Instructor
Texts by Participants:
I Am From
I am from a Loving family
who takes care of me. I
am from my dads cute face and also my mom's cute face. I am from food
I like to eat such as ham
and vanilla ice cream. I am
from stores where my family
buys me clothes. I am from my granny's side of the family.
I am from a swimming pool
where I swim is the summer.
I am from 4319 Vista where
I was raised. I am from St.
Louis where the arch is located
Downtown.
--Bria Burks
I Am From
I am from a beautiful mother named Stephanie Burks and a father named Deandre Latimore. They brought me into this world and put a roof over my head. I am from my grandmother named Pearl Burks. Who really takes care of me and my brother Brian Burks who helps me with my homework.
I'm also from a group of beautiful friends and their names are Aaliyah, Savontae, LaJoya, Martia and Tyshe. They help me with my problems and with things I need help with.
I am from a group of people that call me "Fat-Fat, Nisha, Baby girl." Also they say "Hello" and "Happy birthday Denisha."
I'm from a house of loving people that sometimes eat sausage pizza, ham sandwiches, and salad with ranch dressing. And that's where I'm from."
--Denisha Latimore
I Am From
I am From the beautiful ladies Mary, and Ann.
I'm from the spicy chicken and the delicious pizza and pigs feet too.
I am from the "Hi Ms. Mini."
I am from the Tracy and I laughing, Nia too.
I am from the "Shut yo fat self up" when I'm singing by my sister.
--Jatoria Johnson
I Am From
I am from my family Cilla, Cynthia, Torry, Pattie, Measha, and Darryl who appreciate me and the things I do. I am from my family's sayings like "Stop that," "Go to your room," and "Sit down before you get on punishment." I am from my mama's macaroni, my granny's mashed potatoes, my sister's potato salad, and banana pudding which tastes so fine. I am from the Eagle's gold and blue. I am from nicknames like Rabbit, Ms. Butts, Rubs, and Lil' Cynthia, which people call me. I am from my friends Bria, Jateria, Denisha, and Lil Tony who help me a lot. I am from St. Louis, MO 63107 and most of all I am from Bryan Hill on this Earth.
--Rudy Sanders
My Hair
I like my hair because it has beads on it and it's braided.
If you look up close you can see split ends.
It comes from my black heritage.
The split ends are straight like a piece of paper.
My hair is a brownish black.
It feels like a criss-cross or a zig-zag.
--Ruby Sanders
My Hands
My hands change all the time when I take different pictures. I use my hands for writing, picking things up, and typing. They are brown like a Snickers bar. They are soft like a baby's hand. My hands are important because if I didn't have them, I wouldn't be able to play basketball or turn rope. I wouldn't be able to write because if I didn't have any hands I wouldn't have any fingers. If I didn't have hands I wouldn't be me.
--Jatoria Johnson
My Hips
I like my hips because I like the song "Rock Your Hips." If I didn't have my hips, my top wouldn't be connected to my bottom. Sometimes I put my hand on my right hip when I stop walking which means i'm tired and grouchy.
--Bria Burks
My Smile
I like my smile. I like my smile because it makes people give good comments to me. I like my smile because when I go out somewhere I have to smile so I won't embarrass myself by looking mad. When I want a job, and I have to go on an interview, I have to smile so I can get the job I want. Also, when I go on a TV show I have to smile because I need to look clean, nice, and beautiful so I can get good comments. "You were good on TV!"
People say "Denisha were you on TV you did an awesome job. I started jumping up and down because you did so awesome."
--Denisha Latimore
PARTICIPANTS: Grades 4 and 5
Bria Burks
Jatoria Johnson
Denisha Latimore
Ruby Sanders
COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
Bryan Hill Elementary School
St. Louis Scores
Third Ward Neighborhood Council