Context, Content, and Connections

The A.B.L.E. program recently completed its school year program. Over the course of the school year we served a wide-range of students and families. Most importantly, we laid the foundation for an approach to learning that can be defined by the three C's: Context, Content, and Connections.

In all of our program components one of our goals was to ensure that students were aware of the Context in which the learning experience was taking place. Thus, in a city where 'race' is never far from folks minds, it mattered that we created an exhibition called "Black, Brown, and White in the 'Chocolate City: Being an Adolescent in the Nation's Capitol" as a way to examine the social, political, cultural, and economic transformations that are taking place in Washington, D.C. Similarly, we wanted program participants to leave each day with some new Content that they may not have otherwise been exposed to had they elected to spend their time elsewhere. Our ABLE Visions program is a good example of the importance of providing adolescents with new and engaging content. Each Friday for 36 weeks we introduced students to films that they would have otherwise not seen. In the process they got a glimpse of how the world view adolescents and how adolescents view the world. Students often spoke about the impact that the stories and images in the films had on their thinking. Most importantly, however, we aim to help students make a Connection. Over the course of the school year one thing was made plain on a daily basis: the only thing predictable about adolescents is that they are unpredictable. Consequently, the ABLE program was at its best when students could see a Connection between our program and their life. It happen more times than some participants were willing to admit but, it happen enough that we knew we were achieving our goal.

Now as the summer awaits, the ABLE program is preparing to sustain the relationship with students by pushing them beyond the boundaries of their experiences each day from June 29-August 7. If we are successful, all of our program participants this summer will be in a stronger position to have maximum opportunity for success when school begins. We have learned that the best way to have success is to plan for it. In this case, this means keeping the context, content, and connections in mind in everything we plan to do with adolescents.