Filipinos On Display, New Class Session & PYC Reminders

Hey y'all!

Thank you to all those who have been making it to class sessions this semester. We have been enjoying listening to y'all speak your minds and share your deepest thoughts about each week's topic.

This Week

We will be exploring one of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair discussing the following: How does the world’s fair support America’s take over the Philippines? How did the World's Fair display the culture of Philippine indigenous tribes and people? 

LM Open Sessions

We are very excited to announce that we will be having a second weekly meeting specifically for y'all to have more space to rehearse and workshop different types of performance. Tentatively, these sessions will be called "LM Open Sessions" because although the space is best used for dance, Brian will also be availible if you need help with school work, have questions about class material, or if you need advice on school, life or whatever! LM Open Sessions are an Thursdays from 3-5pm in the Girls Gym Hallway.

PYC 2012 Details

For those of you attending this year's PYC 2012 at UC Davis, this section is especially for you.

Meeting Place: Edison HS, Center Street Parking Lot on Friday, 3:30pm. Dillon and Alma will be driving y'all to UC Davis. Please be sure to THANK THEM for volunteering their time and gas to get y'all to Davis.

Things to Bring: Clothes (3 days, 2 nights), Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Shampoo, Soap, Hair product, Instruments or materials for Open Mic performance, Cameras (for a "Dear Brian/Alma" video journal), no more than $20 for emergencies (optional).

IMPORTANT: Also bring your Printed Application and signed parent consent form. You will not be allowed to attend if you do not have these materials.

Please pack light, i.e. y'all don't need 10 pairs of shoes for the weekend, to make sure everyone's duffle bags/back packs fit into the transport vehicles. This goes without saying, but please remember our community agreements while you're at Davis. You'll find them posted below for folks who have not seen them yet.

Community Agreements (as of 01/10/12)

One mic, one diva | Respect your peers and your teachers by giving your full attention to the individual speaking. Feel free to say, “One Mic!” to keep your peers in check.

Step up, step aside | Be conscious of your level of participation during discussions or activities. If you notice yourself speaking up too much, step aside from the discussion or activity and encourage others to come to your level. Similarly, if you notice yourself not speaking enough, encourage yourself to step up to the level of your peers to keep things moving forward.

Safe space, brave space | Understand that LMASP aims to create a safe and supportive space where it’s messed up to hate on or hurt anyone emotionally or physically during our sessions. You’re safe. Also, this is a place for all of you to speak your mind freely and respectfully regardless of how comfortable you are speaking in front of your peers. Be brave!

Speak your mind even if your voice falters | Don’t be afraid to speak your mind, even if you don’t exactly know what to say. Be brave and find your voice. Your voice will grow as long as you commit to using it.

Agree to disagree | Everyone has the right to have their own opinion about an issue or topic. It is important to respect and accept that sometimes these opinions don’t always see eye to eye.

Use “I” statements | Your personal thoughts and beliefs are incredibly valuable in this class. Saying “I think” or “I believe” when sharing personal knowledge helps to avoid offending your peers, speaking on behalf of groups of people you do not completely understand, or generalizing about experiences that you’ve never had before. 

Open mind | Allow yourself to entertain new, unfamiliar ideas to expand your personal knowledge.

Don’t attack the person, challenge the idea | To promote a productive discussion and a safe, supportive space, focus on interrogating the idea put forth rather than judging or directing negative energy at the individual who puts forth the ideas! 

Ouch, oops, educate! | “Ouch” signals that someone has been offended by a comment said by a student speaker. “Oops” is a response by the student speaker to acknowledge the offense and informally apologize without breaking the discussion entirely. After the exchange and before the class ends, both students are encouraged to “educate” each other on their thoughts on the topic to promote a safe, respectful discussion space.

Don’t Yuck my Yum! | To be sensitive to everyone’s individuality, think twice before saying “Ew!” or “Yuck” at a topic, object, idea, lifestyle, food choice, decision or hairstyle of one of your peers. Feel free to say this phrase to keep your peers in check!

Donut cupcake! | There’s a time and place for cup-caking and its NOT during class. Respect your peers and the program by checking your personal love life at the door. Don’t worry, it’ll be there waiting for you after class.

Respect classmates, teachers, and space | You already know. But also be sure to throw away your garbage when you bring your food to class to help out your custodial staff and your program teachers.

Respectful use of technology | We all have cell phones and its hard to disconnect yourself when your in class, but refrain from calling, texting, facebooking, tweeting until after our class session is over unless it explicitly has to do with what’s going on in class.

Be on time | The sooner you get here, the earlier we get out, and the better your teachers feel about spending time planning each class session activity if you can stay the whole time.

Have fun! | Duh.

Community Agreements are always open | Feel free to add or edit agreements through out the semester. They are always open for your critique and up for discussion.