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   WINTER 2009 NEWSLETTER
2008/2009 Artist-In-Residence: Kathryn Singer Kathryn Singer is no stranger to Project Eye-To-Eye art clubs. Integral to establishing the Eye-to-Eye chapter at Vassar College in 2004, she served as its co-coordinator for two years. Eye-To-Eye hired Kathryn as the Artist-in-Residence for the 2007/2008 school year and asked her to return this fall to design the Beyond Normal Art Club curriculum for a second year. Kathryn has designed "bigger sculptural projects" for this year's curriculum. Projects include the creation of a metaphorical bug, "something that bothers you," and an escape boat. The curriculum prompts students to address questions that relate to how they struggle with and overcome their challenges: "What bugs you most about school? What form would your escape boat take?" While creating this year's curriculum, Kathryn faced the same challenges that she conquered last year. "The curriculum needs to be for students ranging from first through twelfth grade," she explains, "It is hard to come up with failure-free projects that will engage a six-year-old as well as a teenager." Because of this, Kathryn designs her projects to be flexible. She expects chapter coordinators to adapt her ideas so that the students of each individual chapter can relate to the projects. Kathryn believes that a student's age is irrelevant in his/her ability to connect with art and use it to investigate and address learning differences. She notes that, "The benefit of using art to discuss empowerment is that art can hold all of the energy and creativity that LD and ADHD students have in abundance. Art is impervious to sabotage and success is very difficult to evade."
Project Eye-To-Eye Continues to Grow Project Eye-To-Eye has come a long way since its days as a student club at Brown University. Annually, the organization supports 26 chapters in 14 states working with over 2,500 individuals. Organizational changes have accompanied Eye-To-Eye's growth. In July of 2007, Eye-To-Eye hired Marcus Soutra as the National Program Director. With his partner Amber Bergeron, Marcus founded Project Eye-To-Eye's Camp Vision summer camp, which celebrates its third anniversary and an expansion to a second site this summer. The 5th annual Organizing Leadership Training Institute for Eye-To-Eye chapter coordinators will also be held this coming summer. In 2004, Eye-To-Eye established its Summer Fellowship Program. The summer fellowship program is awarded to two students who wish to create an original project that is related to the Learning Disabled (LD) community or LD issues. This past summer, one student explored the connection between music and ADHD and the other studied universal design for learning and its connection to online applications for student with learning disabilities. Reflecting on the evolution of Project Eye-To-Eye, David Flink explains, "Our vision has changed. We started in the business of mentoring. Mentoring is still in the program, but now we are in the business of bearing hope and creating positive change in the LD/ADHD community. Mentoring is a tool that we use." Eye-To-Eye's effect on students is undeniable. An outcome-based evaluation study conducted by Colombia University Teacher's College reveals that 98% of mentees report and increase in self-esteem after participating in Project Eye-To-Eye.
"Voices" Film Project: Sharing Project Eye-To-Eye's Impact After years of struggling with how to best support his LD son Josh, Dan Herz read Jonathan Mooney and David Cole's Learning Outside the Lines and discovered Project Eye-To-Eye. "My knee-jerk reaction to things that inspire me is to make a documentary about it," explains Dan. A year ago, Dan, the former Senior Producer of travel show, started e-mailing with Eye-To-Eye's Executive Director, David Flink, and got the ball rolling on the Voices film project. Dan's son recently joined an Eye-To-Eye chapter. Dan states, "Eye-To-Eye connected us to the LD community. We feel like we finally got Josh on the right path." The Voices film project is an attempt to help others in the same way. The film will consist of clips from four different interviews: a mentor, a mentee, a parent of a mentored child, and David Flink. an explains, "The idea is to have it on the Eye-To-Eye website. It will help people to hear first hand about Eye-To-Eye and how it affects people. It's simple, but simple can be very powerful." Dan views the Voices film as the first step in a larger project. Dan hopes to create a longer documentary that addresses the educational system in the U.S. and how LD students are being left out of the equation. Funding is needed for such a film, but Dan believes that this kind of documentary could be integral in changing our educational system. Dan says, "The Voices film is just a start. A larger film would reach many more people."
Eye-To-Eye Spotlight: Erin Phipps Ever since reading Learning Outside The Lines while attending Landmark College, Erin Phipps has wanted to get involved in Project Eye-To-Eye. Four years later and pursing a graduate degree in social work at NYU, Erin connected with Marcus Soutra, National Program Director, and helped to found an Eye-To-Eye chapter at NYU. Erin coordinates this chapter, which consists of both graduate and undergraduate mentors working with mentees at Greenwich Village Middle School. Addressing her inspiration to join Eye-To-Eye, Erin recalled, "I've seen kids who have been diagnosed LD and have nowhere to go. Eye-To-Eye creates a community for these kids. Eye-To-Eye is a rare, yet needed program and network. It is a unique experience to be part of."
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