Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center: A Reflection

A reflection on my experience as a teaching intern at a juvenile rehabilitation center.

As an intern at Woodside, I gained perspective on the least public side fo Art Education. This experience brought along equal parts of joy, frustration and tears. On my way out of the highly secure lobby on my last day, with my box of art supplies, I thought about how I will probably never see my students again. If I do and if they recognize me, I hope that I'll be part of a good memory from a less desirable situation. As I began this written reflection, I felt like I still needed to know more. So, I decided to watch an interview I found online with the director of Woodside. In this interview, the director talks about how most of the kids that go to Woodside have challenging behaviors that are a result of the environment they were raised in. Such behaviors were evident to me as an art education intern. Simons also describes a young man who went through the Woodside experience. He said that the staff put a lot of work into his growth. He also recalled this man telling him about why he behaves in a violent manner toward others. The young man said that when he was little, he was taken advantage of all the time. He was used for smuggling drugs all the time and doing things that are very unfit for a kids to be doing. Jay asked him what he thinks when he sees young people and the young man said, “they’re ripe for the picking,” meaning that they’re vulnerable enough to be taken advantage of. In turn, his aggressive behavior is fueled by a need to be tougher than the next person. His aggression helps him to avoid being vulnerable, because he cannot be taken advantage of again. Before Woodside, I had no idea what it would be like to work with a population of kids that come from such a tough background.

As much undesirable behavior as I saw, I also saw some really great behaviors as well. Sweet hellos when students entered the classroom, thoughtful and respectful questions and observations, and great manners. I was delighted to see that some lessons sparked an interest in the students who were often the least interested. The book altering and printing projects that I taught for example, were challenging but engaging. Even our friend who almost never wanted to participate in art class, put out great effort and made something he was proud of. There was a new student in class on the day that I taught the printing class, who made a series of spiral prints.

"A spiral. Maybe a hurricane. Maybe a tornado. The student’s thoughts could have been that he just liked the look of the spiral, that he was just trying to earn his life skills point for the day, or something deeper."

When I was photographing student work, these stood out to me. I thought about how most of the kids expressed their thoughts and feelings through their artwork during my internship.

There were two pieces that I chose not to photograph. One was a drawing of a skeleton hanging from a noose with the words “eternal suffering,” next to it with blood spatters in red watercolor. Another was just the legs of a character hanging off the edge of a page, with the words “don’t look in the attic.” Some of the kids painted and drew the tattoos that covered their wrists and arms. Mushrooms, smiley faces, bleeding hearts. Others, like this student, made artwork with a less direct message. A spiral. Maybe a hurricane. Maybe a tornado. The student’s thoughts could have been that he just liked the look of the spiral, that he was just trying to earn his life skills point for the day, or something deeper. There could have been something in the subconscious that made him want to make these though. Most of the kids at Woodside arrive with a lot of trauma under their belts and a ton of stress. For the majority of these kids, Woodside could have provided their first real sense of grounding. A spiral is a perfect illustration of a rocky foundation, and the physical, psychological and emotional affects of it.

As an intern here, I was able to see and live a side of art education that I didn’t know about before. Woodside brought out a lot of insecurities for me. I was able to acknowledge my own biases and work to improve myself as a well-rounded teacher.