2023-24 Recipients of RI High School Clothesline Project Grant: Toll Gate HS (David Hagopian Health Teacher), E-Cubed Academy (Nicole Lepre, Daniel Damiani Health Teachers & Art Teachers) , Burrillville HS (Sandra Schuetz, Health Teacher)
TOLL GATE HS, Health Teacher David Hagopian
SCITUATE HS, Social Worker Jennifer Ricci, School Psych, & School Counselor
2022-23 Recipients of High School Clothesline Project Grant: Narragansett HS, Toll Gate HS, Ponagansett HS, Providence Career & Tech HS, Middletown HS, Scituate HS, East Providence HS
TOLL GATE HS, He/Pe Teacher David Hagopian
My senior classes finished their shirts and they are hung up. I told them about the money we get for supplies from the Lindsay Burke Fund, and in turn I like to send you pictures so you can see that it’s going to good use. The students approached this project enthusiastically, and had fun designing the shirts.
MIDDLETOWN HIGH SCHOOL, Jill Armstrong, Visual Arts Teacher
PONAGANSET HIGH SCHOOL, Jillian Paolino, He/Pe Teacher
E PROVIDENCE HIGH SCHOOL, Sara Duarte, Kristin Bovi-Pallotta, & Tricia Chapman
We began our project by holding WIN (What I Need) sessions for students. These sessions are 40 minutes each. We were able to educate our students about healthy vs. abusive relationships and prepare them to begin painting their shirts. We had over 50 students paint shirts in the cafeteria during another WIN block. When the shirts were done they were hung in our main entrance lobby outside the student commons. Teachers had the opportunity to bring their classes down to look at the shirts in a gallery style setting. The location of the shirts was an area where students and staff could see them when they enter the building in the morning, at lunch and when they leave the building. Having the shirts hung in the main entrance lobby led to many conversations between students and teachers and sent a buzz throughout our building.
The P2P group created t-shirts with images and slogans to hang on the clothesline. We stationed the project outside the cafeteria because it is a high volume area in our school. It seemed to be a big talking point for students the first week it was up. My students asked me about it in my classes
PROVIDENCE CAREER & TECH, Julie Hargreaves, Counselor
I went to the art classes and used the Safe Date curriculum to teach various lessons. We then created t-shirts to showcase what the students felt other students needed to know about healthy relationships. After student’s created these t-shirts. Graphics students then printed the design on t-shirts for the students. Students enjoyed participating in the activity. Other students loved the shirts and wanted a shirt too.
2021-22 Recipients of “Clothesline Project Grant” include Middletown HS, Toll Gate HS, Block Island School, Portsmouth HS, Exeter-West Greenwich HS, Rogers HS, Ponaganset HS, E-Cubed Academy, Burrillville HS
PONAGANSET HS Teachers: Jillian Paolino, Ariana Stanton, Alisha Crins, James Caron, & Jake Keeling
TOLL GATE HIGH SCHOOL: David Hagopian, Lisa Sweet
In 2019, LABMF was proud to present a $200. grant for the “Clothesline Project” in the following schools: Paul Cuffee Upper School (Megan Thoma, English Teacher), Lincoln HS (Ron Almeida, Nat Honor Society Advisor & Social Studies Teacher), East Providence HS (Jade Sisti, Art Teacher, Kristen Coutoulakis & Sara Duarte He/Pe Teachers), Toll Gate HS (James Kennedy, Dept Chair He/Pe & David Hagopian, He/Pe Teacher), and RI Nurses Institute MCHS (Rebecca Bouley, Guidance Counselor & Student Ambassador Club Advisor)
Congratulations to all participating teachers for the wonderful collaborative projects and your commitment to educating our teens about dating violence!
TOLL GATE HS During the 2018 – 2019 school year Toll Gate High School Seniors participated in the Clothesline Project as a culminating event to the dating violence/healthy relationship lessons learned during 4 years of Health class. The project also served as a way to share those lessons with the entire Titan student body.
This year our approximately 280 seniors participated in the project. The finished shirts were displayed on clotheslines strung in both the cafeteria and the lobby of the gymnasium. Between the two locations, the entire student body of roughly 1200 and the over 120 faculty and staff members were exposed to the messages the shirts contained.
The gym lobby display was new this year. Displaying the finished shirts there gave us a whole new audience of our own parents, who, along with visiting athletes, their parents and students, saw the shirts while attending athletic events in our gym.
The faculty members, always supportive of student work, were very complimentary of the effort our students put in to creating their slogans and their designs.
One comment heard from several was “what a great way to reinforce the warnings of abusive relationships to all our students.”
Based on the success this year, we will continue using the Clothesline Project with future senior classes
The faculty of the Health and Physical Education Department at Toll Gate are happy to partner with, and want to thank Lindsay’s entire family and the entire staff of the LABMF for their support and continued efforts on behalf of all of Rhode Island’s teenagers. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our students.
RINIMCHS
RINI Community for the Clothesline Project: All grade levels engaged in a TDV curriculum prior to creating the T-Shirts. The students gained a deeper understanding of healthy vs. unhealthy relationships and also learned about various supports that can be utilized, if needed. The project has sparked a conversation within our school community that has increased awareness and knowledge of the TDV topic. Thanks again for selecting RINI as one of the grant recipients this year. Our students and staff had a very meaningful experience.
East Providence HS
2018 Clothesline Projects:
BURRILLVILLE HS teacher Barbara DeMasco said “As part of a Teen Dating Violence unit, these students were prompted to create a “Healthy Relationships” T-shirt. In designing this T-shirt, students needed to send a positive message about what healthy relationships look like by decorating the shirt with all the positive aspects of a healthy relationship. Further, the shirts were then hung up on a clothesline that decorated the media center with this positive message. Collectively, these T-shirts helped make a strong statement to the school community that “Love is Not Abuse”.
MIDDLETOWN HS Health Teacher Anita DeLima said “Our Clothesline Project was a huge success. 127 – 11th grade students participated and their work was displayed in the cafeteria to advocate and create awareness about this important topic our teens face. The line was on display for the month of February. The project was preceded by a unit on Relationships which included lessons on Unhealthy vs Healthy Relationships, Break-Up Violence, Conflict Resolution, Communication Skills and Tolerance. In addition, we showed the Lauren Astley story, “Loved to Death”. And we were honored to have Dr. Malcolm Astley, Lauren Dunne Astley’s father, address every 11th and 12th grade student at MHS.. The month long event included morning announcements about Teen Dating Violence. The students were engaged and empowered. We heard a lot of chatter in the halls and positive feedback from the students. Thanks so much for supporting this amazing opportunity for our students.”
PAUL CUFFEE UPPER SCHOOL teacher Megan Thoma reported “At Paul Cuffee Upper School, our Humanities Alive class had been studying public art and its ability to highlight important social issues and bring a community together. They took on the Clothesline Project as their final project. They did research about relationship violence, the history of the clothesline project, and Lindsey Ann Burke’s story. We visited every advisory and had 80 students and staff members volunteer to make a shirt. Below are pictures from our project, which included our display of shirts and various posters talking about warning signs, frequency, and where to go for support. Because of the openness of our foyer, the display was incredibly impactful and well-received by our community. Our goal is to continue doing this project, adding to our collection every year. Thank you so much for the opportunity. It was a great project for our class and our school, and it started a lot of important conversations.”
ROGERS HS art teacher Barbara Wunderler said “3 art classes and a health class took part in designing the tee shirts. Our nurse, Sarah Cloutier created a display outside her office with facts about teen dating violence and students hung some of their shirts beneath her display. Sarah Bagley, our health teacher, provided all students with handouts containing statistics and facts about healthy relationships. I provided the t- shirts and art materials to decorate the shirts. We created over 60 shirts and hung them in front of the main office and in the cafeteria. They have been on display since Feburary and we will keep them up until the end of the school year. Thank you for the opportunity to create this display at Rogers High School.”
ST MARY ACADEMY-BAYVIEW health teacher Amanda Cabral reported “At the very beginning of the quarter, the juniors researched dating and domestic violence. We talked about the signs of an abusive relationship as well as what someone could do to help someone that may be in an abusive relationship. The girls partnered up and created their slogan/picture that brings awareness to dating/domestic violence. Completed shirts were hung in the gymnasium for the month of February. This allowed a majority of the school’s population to see the shirts and start conversations about dating/domestic violence. I believe that this project was a great success for our students. It allowed them to be exposed to the information on a different platform as well as it being more student-guided rather than teacher-guided. We will definitely continue to complete this project in the years to come.”
PORTSMOUTH HS Visual Arts Teacher Nancy Brandley wrote: “All Art One foundation students (21) were assigned Teen Dating Violence as the theme for their “social issue” graphic design project, a unit within our curriculum. Students, grades 9-12, were asked to develop a T-shirt design, as well as a poster design, utilizing the Design Process. After researching, and developing rough drafts, the group had a mid-process critique during which all designs were discussed. Final designs were executed incorporating the feedback gained from peers and faculty. The shirts as well as posters were hung in our school lobby and the display was extended through the month of March. Several faculty members and building staff commented on the works and the display in general. This social issues unit, more so than any other, garnered the most commentary and discussion from staff and students. The classroom discussions were electric and the invite extended to counselors and staff was well received. Below are several snip-its’ from the students’ final written reflections and I believe their words tell all. Quotes are taken directly as written in student essays:
“I think this project was really good for students. Teen dating violence isn’t talked about as much as other problems like drugs, etc. …”
“Making a poster made me think about, in depth, what dating violence is and what message to put out there to help people……”
“…Not only was the clothesline project a great way to create art in a new unique way to but I thought it was very informative not only for myself but the rest of the school. I did not really consider teen dating violence often except for a handful of times in health class, but after researching the issue to inspire our designs, I was shocked by the astonishing statistics of how many people are truly affected by this issue and will certainly think about it more often and beware not only for myself but friends as well.”
“I think that this was an important issue to address during art class. Portraying our views through art made our messages stronger because there were so many ways to stylize the issue….”
“…I struggled because dating abuse is still a sore subject for me personally, but I am still glad we used it as a theme so it can bring attention to the issue for other people, making them aware of any dangers they may be a victim of, as well as deterring them from being guilty of causing these dangers.”
“…By putting all the t-shirts right in the lobby, lots of students took the time to look at them…..Not many people in our school are that aware of this issue so I felt this project really helped everyone learn about TDV.”
“…It was satisfying to know that my work could potentially impact someone’s life……..It makes people stop for a second and read what the shirts say…I had no realization of how traumatic teen dating violence was until we conducted this project.”
“While researching for this project I learned many things about the severity of teen dating violence…..…..I have also seen the project featured on some students’ social media, who were completely unaffiliated with it’s creation. Their positive thoughts about our work really made my day.”
“….Not only was the process of creating them fun, but I think it is very important to send this message to kids at a young age, especially when they are starting to get into relationships & discover what is healthy & not.”
“……The clothesline project helps to set the message of Teen Dating Violence being a huge problem amongst high schoolers today and is a problem that needs to be addressed and changed. This project helps our school and other schools to relay that message and to hopefully help at least one student to tell someone about an abusive relationship and help them build the course to get out of that relationship.”
Thank you again for allowing our students to grow and gain important insights into the power of art and its connection to life through this very timely and relevant project.
LINCOLN HS social studies teacher Ronny Almeida, Nat. Honor Society Advisor said this project ran through their Advisory & personalization program with NHS students facilitating the process. Students visited advisories to discuss the program and the broadcast journalism program created & ran PSA’s. These were coordinated with the student assistance counselor.
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LABMF sponsored the student-led “Clothesline Project” in 2016-17 in the following schools:
Schools received a $200. grant from LABMF: Lincoln HS (Ron Almeida, National Honor Society Advisor & Social Studies Teacher); South Kingstown HS (Karen Murphy, Health Teacher); Johnston HS (Greg Russo, Science Dept Chair/SADD Advisor); Block Island School (Victoria Carson, Health Teacher); Middletown HS (Anita DeLima, Health Teacher.
Activities coincided with February, National Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month. The following is a synopsis of their accomplishments.
In October 2017, Women &