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My ID

Students start the project by interviewing people on the street to find out how they use ID cards.

Having an ID can give people access to many different services. But what are those services and who might be barred from them if they don’t have an official ID? What role does a municipal ID play?

Students from Irving Estella’s ESL class at the Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering in Bushwick, Brooklyn worked with CUP Teaching Artist Raúl Ayala to clear things up. They interviewed people on the streets and a lawyer from Make the Road NY to find out more about how people use IDs. With the information they collected, they created a booklet to share what they learned.

Check out the booklet here!

What People are Saying

“I look at the city differently now, and in my opinion it was a good project that changed how we think, and taught us to see from everyone’s point of view.” — Merlin Reyes, student

“I learned how to interview people, how to work in a group and why an ID is useful for us.” — Walter Chan Rodar, student

“CUP brought to my class another connection with the “real” outside world where my students could experience learning on a larger scale than the two-dimensional scale of the classroom. Working with a professional artist spoke larger than my talking about artists. A real life project such as how to obtain an ID card communicates a relevancy no other textbook or virtual exercise could do”. — Irving Estella, classroom teacher

Resources & Links

The Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering (AUPE) is a public school in Bushwick with an urban planning theme-based curriculum.

Make the Road New York builds the power of Latino and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education and survival services.

Funding Support

This project was made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Special Thanks

Sebastian Sanchez (Make the Road New York)

government

Participants

CUP
Teaching Artist
Raúl Ayala

Project Lead
Pema Domingo-Barker

Project Support
Valeria Mogilevich

Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering
Students
Chirino “Brayan” Arevalo
Walter Chan Rodas
Jean-Carlos Garcia
Liselot Gomez
Fredman Hernandez

Kevin Jaque Maiza

Bryan Jimenez
Cristal Mejia
Mayeline Montero
Pedro Perez
Merliny Reyes
Pablo Santana
Darwin Segura
Ignacio Vasquez
Yaritza Vasquez
Evander Vega
Darleny Zapata

Classroom Teacher
Irving Estella