❋
When silence is no longer an option.
Renderings of ResistanceMain Reading: Animal Farm
We all have our tipping point. The moment when things have gone too far. In Renderings of Resistance, we explore how to recognize the warning signs before conflict and how to successfully resist oppressive systems. Renderings of Resistance is an exploration of historical, artistic, literary, modern, and personal resistance movements. Through these lenses, students construct an understanding of conflict and how to best resist when something is not right, fair, or just.
❋ Essential Questions
What would you fight for? What would you risk? How do individuals and communities challenge injustice? What can history teach us about resistance, courage, and social change? When does silence become complicity? How can art, storytelling, and self-expression become acts of resistance?
❋ What Students Learned
Students investigated historical and contemporary resistance movements through literature, history, art, and personal reflection. By examining the experiences of activists, changemakers, and everyday people who challenged injustice, they developed a deeper understanding of power, agency, identity, and the strategies individuals and communities use to create social change.
❋ Why It's Liberatory
This project invited students to move beyond simply learning about history and instead consider their own relationship to power, responsibility, and collective action. By exploring resistance as both a personal and societal practice, students were empowered to find their voice, critically examine the world around them, and imagine themselves as contributors to a more equitable future.
❋ TLC Values in Action
Liberation was at the heart of this project as students studied how people throughout history challenged oppression and expanded freedom. Wild Potential emerged as students discovered their own capacity to influence change, while Love and Community were reflected through empathy, solidarity, and a commitment to collective well-being. Through art, storytelling, performance, and reflection, students transformed learning into action—an expression of Alchemy in practice.
UnSung Heroes
Students wrote a Freedom and Bravery (FaB) Award nomination speech for a resistor they thought made praiseworthy and honorable contributions to society on either a local, national, or international level. As collaborative project with the Art department students also created collage portraits for their nominee.
The Exhibition
Students performed and exhibited a pièce de résistance that drew on the lessons from the past and inspired by future voices of resistance. These pieces were then turned into a published poetry book.
Project Handout
Poetry Book Cover