The Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School is a public school that draws students from New Haven and the Greater New Haven region to study their chosen art. Through their study of art, which could be theatre, dance, music (strings, band and choir), creative writing or visual arts, students have a unique lens in which to apply lesson learned to their core classes. The building is located in a busy, up-and-coming downtown area which is less than a block away from one of the most famous stages in New Haven: the Shubert Theatre. This proximity allows for a unique relationship in which students can gain internship experiences; perform in exhibitions, and even cross the stage for graduation.
With the population of 650 students ranging in different socioeconomic statuses, academic abilities, sexual orientation and identifications, races and ethnicities, teachers have to be very aware of the most obvious demographic imbalance--our heavily female population. About 60% of the school is female (which is a national trend for some colleges). When looking at my own classes, there are no more that 5 males in each class “honors” level class, and it becomes more even in my one “college” level class. This imbalance may be due to the arts that are offered, such as choir and dance and the lack of sports (like football or baseball).
With all of these factors considered, it made more sense to talk about Native Americans in my first unit next year because they lost the most after the arrival of Europeans. The theme of struggle for existence is one that resonates with the population of students we have where some are given an opportunity that no one in their family’s history can come close to. It also picks up where they would have ended with World History—European Exploration. With our American History textbooks use only little boxes on the sides about Native Americans, the need was created for curriculum to fill in the mysteries. There seemed to be times that Indians would disappear and then reappear a few chapters later. This unit would address that issue by heavily dealing with this issue upfront.