Interdisciplinary Learning for Tomorrow’s Citizen Stakeholders

Wheeler’s Cityside faculty and 8th-grade students work in Providence’s 25 neighborhoods to craft a rich curriculum for civic engagement, project-based learning, inquiry, and research. Cityside supports students in their exploration of interests as they form meaningful partnerships with Providence artists, activists, local business owners, environmental experts, and city officials. Working together, they develop projects that are relevant to the student and that also create value for the community.

Beyond the Curriculum

Students devote 4-hour-long blocks once every eight days working off campus alongside a support system of community leaders and Wheeler faculty to develop collaborative project ideas, as well as ask “big questions” as they begin to realize their role as student-citizens. Students will navigate resources and understand what is needed to sustain and grow the health of a community.

The “home base” for Cityside students is the Cityside Classroom at the WaterFire Arts Center.

Why Cityside?

Students will be able to answer these essential questions at the end of their year:

• What are my duties as a local citizen and how can familiarity with place help fulfill these duties?
• Why are cities like Providence, presently and in the future, a perfect lab for studying our greatest successes and failures as a society?
• What temperament and skills are vital in order to flourish in a rapidly changing world?

You can learn more about Cityside on the program’s section of the Wheeler website.

“Cityside is an amazing opportunity for youth! As an urban planner who wasn’t even aware of the field’s existence until my early 20s, I think immersing young minds in the complex challenges and joys of city life will position them to be the critical thinkers and problem solvers we need to lead the transition to a more equitable and sustainable future.”

– Liza Burkin, Providence Streets Coalition

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