Brooklyn Connections Student Projects, an Online Gallery

Brooklyn Connections is the education division of  the Brooklyn Collection where we focus on cultivating 21st Century learning skills in students and supporting teachers on the incorporation of archives materials into curricula. Click here to view a selection of this year's Brooklyn Connections final projects.

Among the many holidays, events, and celebrations that have been upended due to the coronavirus pandemic, a cherished spring tradition here in Brooklyn was cancelled this year. Every year in late May, hundreds of students gather at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library to present original research, showcase creative projects, and celebrate their achievements as participants in the Brooklyn Connections program. These fourth through twelfth graders represent approximately 35 schools across Brooklyn and come to convocation having completed research projects on a wide variety of local history topics. Convocation takes place over two days as young people teach the adults in the room about the borough where they live. It’s inspiring, chaotic, and popcorn gets absolutely everywhere. It’s a joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the school year looked different this year. However, remote learning did not stop our students from completing fascinating research projects. Brooklyn Connections educators engaged with students and teachers with virtual class visits and office hours, continuing standards-based lessons on research skills and helping students engage with archival material. We could fill many blog posts about the tremendous efforts of teachers who found so many ways to rise to the challenge and adapt their classrooms to online settings. Our program is successful because our educators work collaboratively with our partner teachers. That collaboration paid off as we met their classes where they were and continued our work together.

In previous years, a selection of Brooklyn Connections student projects was displayed in the Brooklyn Collection archive at Central Library all summerlong. This year, we are presenting a selection of students’ digital work online. PowerPoints and digital photographs have replaced poster boards, scale models and live performances, but it is still fascinating to scroll through and learn from these young researchers. Students at a high school in Williamsburg looked at gentrification in their neighborhood, a middle schooler made a model ship inspired by the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and elementary school students designed a line of clothing in tribute to Jackie Robinson. These and the other topics our students researched create a rich tapestry of history and culture that feels like Brooklyn.

Click and scroll through this selection of Brooklyn Connections final projects. We hope you learn something!

Thank you to our partner teachers and students. We are in awe that you continued to research and create during the most unprecedented school year in recent memory. We can’t wait to see you all next school year, whatever form that takes.

Congratulations to our 2019-20 schools:

All City Leadership Secondary School

Brooklyn School for Career Development

Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre

Brooklyn School for Social Justice

Brooklyn Science and Engineering Academy

Ebbets Field Middle School

Edward R. Murrow High School

George Westinghouse CTE High School

Hellenic Classical Charter School

IS 171 Abraham Lincoln

IS 392

Juan Morel Campos Secondary School

Marine Park I.S. 278

McKinley JHS

MS 577

MS 61

MS 88

Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice 

New Utrecht High School 

Pathways to Graduation 

PS 131K

PS 190

PS 238 Anne Sullivan 

PS 261 The Phillip Livingston School

PS 307 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams Magent School for STEM Studies

PS 308

PS 372 The Children's School

PS 40 George Washington Carver

PS 506 The School of Journalism & Technology 

PS 770 The New American Academy

PS 9

PS 93

Shirley Tanyhill School

The Co-op School