F-Series 1: Law Through Drama
First installment in a fictional series.
In this installment, there is an interview with a student named Madison and a teacher named Mr. Hernandez: A teacher and board member at NYC Civics Field Academy circa 2023 - A school without grades, without grade levels, and without walls... a school that should exist.
Interviewer: So, the class was putting on a play, tell me about it.
Madison: Mr. Hernandez thought up the class in the fall and I helped on the design team. It was supposed to be "12 Angry Men" and we were going to perform it at a theater in the Bronx. I think it was in a college there.
In any case, as we were developing the class, Mr. Hernandez noticed that a lot of the terminology of the courtroom was new to us. So, of course, we began planning the course around the idea of going to sit in the real courtroom galleries in the Bronx first.
Mr. Hernandez: It was never part of the plan! But that is the amazing thing here, in the planning, it came out. Nobody is planning in a vacuum or teachers bouncing a single activity idea off of another teacher and then going back to their lesson planning on their own. It's a committee... with almost all students running it. Glad they liked the idea because I've been outvoted before!
Interviewer: Wait, so, the students are designing the classes, is that correct? Mr. Hernandez: Yes. The course ideas are presented in our weekly community meetings. We call them the General Assembly. There is an overseeing body called the Executive Board but most decisions are made in the General Assembly and approved by the Exec Board.
Interviewer: So, this class was a drama class essentially, and it was proposed by Mr. Hernandez? Madison: Yeah, but we have to approve it. The students and teachers in the General Assembly get to vote. Then we [the students] pretty much run most course designs because we are the ones with the questions...
Mr. Hernandez: We have questions too... I never put on a play before!
Madison: They do! The teachers actually do a lot in the way of guiding us with questions. Because, like, I might have glossed right over the fact that we didn't know some of the legal terms. I might've said, let's look them up. And, of course, we could have. But Mr. Hernandez was like: Where could we learn about that? ...and there it was.
Interviewer: The idea to go to the Bronx County Courthouse?
Mr. Hernandez: Yes, that's how it happens. It's organic. And the kids end up with real-life experiences that they talk about and refer to all the time. That's what it's all about.
Interviewer: How was the play?
Madison: Does it matter?! I'm not an actor! (laughs) No, it was good. I think people enjoyed it. We had a great run for three nights but it is our friends and parents and a few other people maybe... but the courtroom, the history, the law... it's like the perfect example of focusing on the process, not the product. See, you have to change your mind if you want to understand us...
Mr. Hernandez: I believe that says it all.
Interviewer: Indeed.
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