Community Voices Project
Tenth-grade students engage in storytelling, photography, and podcasting to spotlight community voices
This spring, 10th grade students are stepping into the role of storytellers as part of their Community Voices unit—an interdisciplinary project that blends language arts, visual storytelling, and civic engagement.
"As part of the 10th grade Community Voices Unit, students interview and photograph individuals who play meaningful roles in our local community. To develop their visual storytelling skills, students explore photography techniques that help convey a person's story through an image. In preparation, they practiced by photographing one another around campus using these new skills," exclaimed Brette Book, Upper School English Department Chair
"As part of the 10th grade Community Voices Unit, students interview and photograph individuals who play meaningful roles in our local community. To develop their visual storytelling skills, students explore photography techniques that help convey a person's story through an image. In preparation, they practiced by photographing one another around campus using these new skills," exclaimed Brette Book, Upper School English Department Chair
Through a series of guided workshops, students are learning how to use light, framing, and composition to capture more than just a portrait—they’re capturing personality, presence, and narrative. These images, paired with thoughtful interviews, will ultimately become part of a larger showcase that honors the people who shape our community in quiet, everyday ways.
In addition to their visual work, students produced original 4–5-minute podcast episodes that highlight the voices and experiences of their chosen community members. Each podcast is built around a central essential question: What do you contribute back to your community or society? What kind of power do you have? Students crafted a clear narrative, conducted in-depth interviews, and thoughtfully connected their work to course texts such as Persepolis and Living on One Dollar to deepen the social and cultural context of their episodes.
To support their storytelling, students also generated original AI-assisted visuals that reflect the mood and message of their podcast. They cited all sources and tools used, reinforcing media literacy and ethical research practices. The final projects—both audio and visual—were presented in to their peers in class!
By combining technical skills with personal inquiry, the Community Voices project challenges students to explore the role of storytelling in building empathy, honoring lived experiences, and strengthening community. Through this interdisciplinary work, students embody Cooper’s mission to cultivate thoughtful, articulate, and socially aware young leaders.
The John Cooper School
From Curiosity to Wisdom
The John Cooper School is an independent, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory day school. Our mission is to provide a challenging education in a caring environment to a diverse group of select students, enabling them to become critical and creative thinkers, effective communicators, responsible citizens and leaders, and lifelong learners.
The John Cooper School seeks to attract qualified individuals of diverse backgrounds to its faculty, staff, and student body. The School does not discriminate against any individual in admissions, educational programs, personnel policies, general practices, or employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, physical disability, or age.
The John Cooper School seeks to attract qualified individuals of diverse backgrounds to its faculty, staff, and student body. The School does not discriminate against any individual in admissions, educational programs, personnel policies, general practices, or employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, physical disability, or age.
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