2. INTRODUCTION Let’s talk about honest communication. Let’s talk about how things that affect our lives the most are sometimes things we want to talk about the least. Let’s talk about how personal empowerment rarely comes with big, dramatic splashes, but instead usually sneaks up on us in the most unexpected ways, and through the most unlikely individuals. Let’s talk about the power of sharing with people we learn to trust…not blindly trust, but trust enough to open up enough in order to let something unexpected happen. Let’s talk about how we become who we are by doing. But let’s also talk about realistic expectations. Let’s talk about how a life doesn’t usually change in any one, glorious burst, but instead changes in the many individual moments of being. Let’s talk about how the small, quiet choices that we all make can either slowly build up or slowly break down other things in our lives. Let’s talk about how living a life we desire is always defined by moment, after moment, after moment of trying…and finding others to help us keep believing. For the last ten weeks, students from 3 of Savannah’s public high schools and a graduate class at the Savannah College of Art and Design have been learning to trust not only one another, but the notion that creative discussions which remain upbeat yet sincere can nurture a sense of common purpose. The journey that’s represented in this book emerged from experiences between individuals who met during the build-up to Design Ethos 2012, SCAD’s conference on design and social innovation. The conversations
have continued since then, leading to a next point which this book explores, where Savannah high school students have taken ownership of their own future by considering the futures of others around them.
The journey began with many questions. Could designers new to social innovation facilitate the emergence of leadership skills in a group of high school students? Could frog’s Community Action Toolkit be successfully adapted to the limited time frame that a high school classroom operates under? What insights could be gleaned by working with more than one class? What modifications, abridgements and supplements to the CAT might be necessary? Could the application of the tool under these conditions provide actionable insights to a youth leadership organization? Could these insights benefit the strategic direction of such an organization? These questions have been posed, as have many others. And while we don’t have all of the answers, neither have we run out of time. Individuals new to the conversation since the beginning of this academic quarter are now conduits for further conversations. More questions will arise; more insights discovered. Let’s continue the conversation. Let’s talk.
Prof. Scott Boylston Savannah College of Art and Design
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