About the Project

In Spring 2000, Irene Gomez, a Kimball Elementary School parent, initiated a series of discussions with Jack Straw Productions and Kimball Elementary School to spearhead a special after-school project. Her vision was to create an inter-generational project for bilingual (Spanish/ English) students that would involve oral histories, audio vignettes and a website.

The first phase of the project started in October 2001. Jack Straw artist Olga Sanchez and Kimball teacher Claudia Mejia-Smith worked with four bilingual children and their parents during weekly evening sessions.

The students interviewed their parents and other family members about family celebrations.

The students and parents then recorded and produced their pieces at the Jack Straw studios.

During the second phase, Jack Straw web artist Angela Castañeda and Kimball technology instructor Carter Kemp worked with the students and parents to design web pages based on the students' writings, photographs, artworks, and audio vignettes.

Project Mission

Jack Straw Productions has been developing art and technology school programs for over 7 years. One of the goals of Historias de las Familias was to expand our out-of-school-programs and maintain a long term partnership with Kimball in both in and out-of school projects. With their diverse population and commitment to technology, Kimball is a perfect partner for Jack Straw.

The staff at Kimball firmly believes that technology can be an invaluable tool in reaching students of all abilities, but that technology must never be regarded as an end in and of itself. They have just completed a Technology Plan that consciously links all use of technology in the school to specific academic goals.

Historias de las Familias meets a number of academic criteria, combining writing, communication skills, technology skills and art. In addition to the curricular goals met through this after-school program, it also provided greater access to Kimball's Technology Lab beyond regular school hours.

As a pilot project for Jack Straw and Kimball, Historias de las Familias focused exclusively on Spanish-speaking families at Kimball Elementary School. Eventually, we hope to expand the program to include other bilingual families, and possibly all the students at Kimball. We hope that this will be the beginning of a larger project to highlight the rich, cultural history of Beacon Hill's multi-ethnic community, and celebrate all the participants' heritages as a valued community resource.