After School Programs
CUP's after school programs, known as Urban Investigations, are semester-long projects where students explore a question about an issue impacting their community.
"I used to be shy about asking questions, but if you take the time to think about it, it's a skill that everyone has. It's really just curiosity."
Isaiah, Ninth-Grade Student, Brooklyn College Community Partnership
How does it Work?
Urban Investigations begin with a question: How is gentrification affecting my neighborhood? How is food affected by climate change? Who decides where the bus goes? To find answers, students collaborate with a Teaching Artist* to go beyond the classroom and engage in community research.
Design the Program for Your School
CUP works with your school and to plan the length, focus, and teaching artist for your program. Urban Investigations can range in length with most lasting a semester, about 11 weeks. Students meet twice a week for two hours after school. Urban Investigations can also take place during the summer. Students meet four times a week for a total of 22 sessions.
Identify the Project Question
CUP works with your schools and students to identify an issue that students are impacted by and want to understand.
Create a Unique Curriculum
CUP Staff and Teaching Artist work together to design a unique curriculum that blends community-driven research and art-making. Students start by interviewing different stakeholders, surveying their community, and visiting sites related to the question. Then, they use a range of art activities to analyze what they’ve learned. To tie it all together, students collaborate with the Teaching Artist to create a publication or video.
Plan a Public Presentation
CUP works with the school, Teaching Artist, and students to plan a public event where students present what they learned and created—developing their confidence and skills with public speaking, sharing their opinions, and teaching others what they learned.
Project Outcomes
After the program many students continue to engage with their community on a deeper level. Students have facilitated their own investigative projects, joined local organizations organizing young leaders, and continued to question what is happening in their communities and why.
*CUP works with a range of Teaching Artists who have an active art practice ranging from animation to painting to collage. Teaching Artists are invested in the creativity, agency, and leadership of young people. Learn more about CUP Teaching Artists here.
Explore Urban Investigations
Schools We've Worked With
Life Sciences Secondary School
Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice
KAPPA International High School
Red Hook Community Justice Center
Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School
Design Works High School
Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering
International Community High School
Bushwick Leaders’ High School