Due to financial troubles, DEF ED will no longer be part of CELLspace
and is currently seeking out another parent organization.

Definitive Education:
Def Ed, uses the powerful influence of the Hip Hop culture to cross common boundaries that often seperate communities, such as gender, class, and culture. Through emceeing, djing, breaking, and street art workshops, S.O.T.U. attempts to promote pro-social life and learning skills through language arts, artistic expression and physical fitness.

Value/Behavior Promoted - Curriculum Module:
Acceptance (Tolerance) Non-violence - History of Hip Hop – These modules helps girls see that respect, acceptance and non-violence is a way of life supported by the Hip Hop culture. Through classroom presentation and facilitation students participate in a discussion that teaches them the values of respect, acceptance and non-violence supported by the Hip Hop genre.

Dance/Physical Fitness – Breaking:
The Breaking modules promotes dance as an artistic venue, strong healthy bodies and fitness. A foundation of good nutrition, physical fitness and a drug/alcohol free lifestyle is needed for strength to perform the top-rocks, footwork and power moves used in breaking. We begin the module with an overview of breaking (balance, low center of gravity, foot dexterity), during the workshops students warm-up with stretching exercises and learn: toprocks, footwork, freezes, and power moves.

Education – Emceeing:
Successful Hip Hop artists are fluent in all aspects of spoken and written language. SOTU teaches participants that reading, writing and poetic language skills are another part of the foundation for the Hip Hop performance. Through classroom participation students in the emceeing sessions do writing, call/response, rhyming and free styling/pattern exercises.

Education – Djing:
Hip Hop artists use a variety of musical, technical, performance and editing skills during sessions. We review and provide hands-on technical experience with turntables and mics. Students learn how to effectively set up and perform in front of groups using lighting, turntables, and skills with a microphone. For editing/djing, we bring in turntables for hands-on instruction in the musical aspects of djing, mixing, cutting, and scratching.

Creative Artistic Expression (Visual) – Street Art Appreciation:
SOTU facilitators briefly review the history and role of graffiti and street art for social expression. The SOTU facilitator and students review the legal vs. illegal aspects of graffiti/tagging. Then, the youth have the hands-on experience of drawing exercises to learn the visual and technical skills of street art to promote self expression. At the close of the sessions, facilitators and students discuss artists, and their creative use of self expression to promote personal and social change. Some schools and community resource centers will allow students to use spray paint and canvas to create a mural which teaches them respect, teamwork and the technical and visual skills of designing and creating a large art installation.

Some of our current sites include:
GASA (girls after school academy), Hamilton Family Center, El Dorado Elementary School, Richmond Beacon Center, Mission Urban Arts Program, Galileo High School, Community Bridges Beacon, Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, Dj Project at Horizons, KIPP Bayview Academy, Pinole Youth Center, Girls 2000, Stockton Library, Youth Quest at Horizons, P.J.C.C., YJC Juvenile Hall, Ocean View Library, Excelsior Library, Aim High, Bernal Gateway Apartments, Making Waves, Upward Bound, Sage Project, Canon Barcus, Fusion Program, Guadalupe Elementary, Sheridan Elementary, Oakland Technology High School, City Arts and Technology, and Marshall Elementary School.

Contact info:
Program Director
Michelle "Crykit" Kolnik
415-305-7905
crykit@gmail.com