Through two major grants, the Capitol Hill Community Foundation is helping three well-established organizations cultivate new ways to enrich our neighborhood’s educational and cultural life. “We really appreciate the opportunity to work with a foundation that gives you complete flexibility to explore a new idea and spend the funding as you need to,” said Jennifer Barnes Eliot, An Open Book Foundation’s development director. “This grant is enabling us to take a risk and see where it leads.”
The Arnold F. Keller Jr. Grant, created to fuel new initiatives or expand existing programs, is being awarded to An Open Book Foundation and Live It Learn It to a groundbreaking t literacy project. As the Capitol Hill Community Foundation’s Grants Committee Chair Mark Weinheimer explained, “We chose these two recipients because of the power of their collaboration to produce outstanding experiences for both students and their teachers. Our hope is that this project becomes a template for their ongoing work together.”
Photo: Live It Learn It
The Folger Shakespeare Library will receive the Foundation’s Franzén Award for the Arts to programs that benefit all facets of the Capitol Hill community. “The library’s renovation created more than a stellar arts and exhibition space for the District of Columbia,” said Foundation President Nicky Cymrot. “It has established a home for amenities tailored to residents in the surrounding neighborhoods,” which perfectly aligns with the grant’s mission of making our neighborhood a cultural hub.
ing Forces To Create Learning With Lasting Impact
An Open Book Foundation and Live It Learn It both instill a love of learning among Capitol Hill students in novel ways. Since 2010, An Open Book Foundation has enhanced learning by offering DC area students the opportunity to meet and interact with authors and illustrators and then receive a signed copy of their books. These personal connections and contributions to students’ personal libraries encourage them to see themselves as readers and help inspire the next generation of storytellers.
Founded in 2005, Live It Learn It has developed 25 programs that augment classroom learning with excursions to more than 20 treasured museums and historic sites across the Washington area, including many that some students might otherwise never see. But more than just field trips, these programs involve rigorous, interdisciplinary activities—aligned to Common Core standards—that breathe life into the regular curriculum.
With the of the Keller grant, these organizations are launching a pilot that blends their program offerings to achieve even greater impact. Their collaboration offers the perfect combination to further students’ understanding: An Open Book Foundation’s connection between students and authors boosts reading comprehension and enthusiasm, while Live It Learn It’s content-rich, experience-based approach builds important contextual knowledge for students from one lesson to the next.
For students attending Capitol Hill’s Title I schools, these experiences open doors to places and opportunities they might not otherwise experience. More than 60% of students participating in An Open Book Foundation event have never before met an author or illustrator. Similarly, nearly two-thirds of students attending a Live It Learn It trip report that it was their first time visiting that museum or cultural institution—even though many of these destinations are free and open to the public.
The Keller grant will fund an immersive learning experience for about 40 fifth-grade students that seamlessly integrates history, literature, and civic engagement in a hands-on, immediate way, giving students a chance to relate their learning to real-world issues and become agents of change in their communities. While the focus and plans for the t program will be determined in the coming months, one possibility is an exploration of the Civil Rights Movement.
“I love the idea of doing a project based on history because it shows the students that nothing happens in isolation,” said Elaine Pirozzi, the grants manager for Live It Learn It. For example, the project’s interwoven components could include a pre-lesson using interactive discussions to introduce the key concepts of the Civil Rights Movement; a field experience at the Lockkeeper’s House near the Lincoln Memorial—the original starting point for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; and a meeting with authors such as Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy, who co-wrote “A Promise of Change”—Boyce’s personal of pioneering school desegregation as a Tennessee highschooler.
Then the students would work in groups to identify social or environmental issues and develop action-oriented projects, deepening their understanding of how they can become agents of change. The program would culminate in an event where students presented their civic action projects to the school community, fostering dialogue and engagement.
“Usually grants fund our existing work, but in this case the Keller grant is creating an opportunity to undertake something we could not otherwise do,” said Pirozzi. “We saw a lot of overlap between our organizations’ programs and ways to integrate them, but planning is the hard part: There’s a major outlay of time and funding at the beginning to figure out how our collaboration will work.” Using this program as a model, the two organizations aim to replicate their collaboration at other schools, creating lasting impact for Capitol Hill.
Opening the Folger’s Doors to Capitol Hill Neighbors
The Folger Shakespeare Library’s newly transformed and expanded facility is just the beginning of its gifts to the nation, our city, and particularly the surrounding neighborhood. The Franzén Award for the Arts will help fund the Folger’s array of inviting programs and events that continually bring fresh opportunities to residents of Capitol Hill and beyond.
“Since my arrival last October, I’ve been immersed in expanding the public’s understanding that this institution is for them,” said Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper. “The Folger’s community engagement work recognizes that Shakespeare alone doesn’t bring people in the door. People come when they are welcome.”
The Folger has put a on removing barriers and creating a sense of welcome through free ission and dramatically different approaches to programming alongside its traditional offerings. That’s reflected in the Folger’s creative place-making and its salons, exhibitions, and new Quill & Crumb Café. One of the most popular new programs, “Folger Fridays,” features local artists and performers throughout the renovated spaces. Other popular events include the return of Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration (on April 19 this year), DIY events for families, Folger Salons where Institute Fellows present their current research, and the new Folger Frost Fair—a monthlong winter festival featuring seasonal décor and a variety of events and activities.
Many events, like the Folger Fridays and DIY events, often amplify the performance season and exhibitions schedule, fostering deeper connections with the Folger through family-friendly pop-up experiences in various parts of the building. Within this framework, programs and events are tailored to specific segments of D.C. residents—with an emphasis on attracting communities that have historically felt unwelcome in cultural centers.
“We’re so grateful for the Foundation’s in extending and repositioning the Folger’s role,” Karim-Cooper said. While that role is rooted in a history of preserving and providing access—primarily for academics—to the library’s vast collection, now the collection is being activated to spark critical thinking among many audiences.
“Shakespeare used to be something you had to work up to,” Karim-Cooper said, “but today we can use it to meet people where they are, moving audiences beyond ive engagement to active engagement.” By creating opportunities for the community to come together and enjoy its unique experiences, the Folger promises to forge connections that lead to positive social change.
To learn more about the grantees, visit anopenbookfound.org, liveitlearnit.org, and folger.edu. For information on the Foundation, visit capitolhillcommunityfoundation.org
