Proposal for the World Studies Institute of Louisiana (WSIL)

To: Lafayette Parish School Board
From: Charles Larroque (for the World Studies Institute of Louisiana, Inc.)
Date: November 15, 2006

PROPOSAL:

We hereby submit for consideration by the Lafayette Parish School Board a proposal for the establishment of the World Studies Institute of Louisiana (WSIL) Type 4 Charter School.

I. Mission Statement

“To create a center of academic excellence that strengthens Lafayette’s cultural assets, enhances quality of life, serves as a driver of economic opportunity and development, with local culture as interface with the global marketplace.”

II. Project Summary

The World Studies Institute of Louisiana (WSIL), as a charter school, will exist as a community-based academic institution for the purpose of linking Louisiana’s culture to the global economy with focus on language acquisition, cultural assets and international affairs.  We will be a school serving grades 6-12 in French, Spanish and Chinese (Immersion and as a Second Language) – targeting an enrollment of 220 students.

With the continued growth of immersion in Lafayette and the surrounding area schools and the persistence of the achievement disadvantage of impoverished minority students the World Studies Institute of Louisiana is designed to provide an environment where the validation of one’s culture is the norm; and where all students are empowered to capitalize on cultural resources and translate their ideas and output into successful service learning projects.  The school will ensure that all students’ needs and interests are met by creating an individualized education program for each student and allowing students’ self-determination in selecting their specialization and creating projects that will enhance their community.  WSIL envisions a  6th -12th grade learning institute that incorporates differentiated instruction, 2nd and 3rd language content-based instruction and hands-on specialty training course work that focuses on utilizing and expanding the area’s cultural resources, including but not limited to, heritage media production, cultural tourism and international education.    

The WSIL concept is based on the following:

Strategies:
1. Leverage the natural assets and raw talents of the Cajun/Creole community to help grow activity in the cultural industry to increase access to the global marketplace.
2.  Provide an educational environment where focus is on using language and local cultural themes to bring about meaningful and purposeful interaction at local, national, and international levels.

Goals:
1. To enable Lafayette to foster and develop its cultural assets, creating for stakeholders economic opportunities and a high quality of life.

2. To help sustain the indigenous local culture by providing our cultural talent with new paths from school to work.
 
3. To mitigate cultural bias that continues to channel minorities into inferior education programs and low-wage, low-skill jobs.

 Three components of the Institute:
1. School of Heritage/Foreign Languages (Grades 6-12)
2. Center for Community Cultural Exchange
3. Center for International and Local Business Training

Guiding Principles of the Institute:
1.    Learning is project oriented and standard driven.
2.    Learning is an evolutionary process.
3.    Learning is synergistic - not in isolation.
4.    The classroom is a workshop of learning and knowledge.
5.    WSIL functions as a community founded on participation, community management, and shared values.
6.    Culture is the school’s interface with the outside world.

Funding sources:
-Public: Tax Increment Financing (TIF); Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) and other state and federal funding for schools; US Department of Education's Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP); Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA); Partnering foreign government entities (France, China, Spain, Canada, etc.).
-Private: Community Foundation of Acadiana; Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), etc.


III. Rationale and Description of WSIL

    A. Why does Lafayette need an international institute?

v    We know that we want Lafayette to continue to grow and become a city of national and global prominence.

v    We want higher standards of education for Lafayette children.

v    We want our children to have every chance for success in the exploding global market.

v    We want to grow an educated workforce that chooses to stay and work in Lafayette.

v    We know that arts and culture appeal to disadvantaged youth.

v    We want to nurture and further the creation of new companies in order to diversify the economy within Lafayette Parish.

v    Today’s entrepreneurial industries seek locations with cultural amenities and a high quality of life rich in technology, talent, and tolerance.

v    We want our culture and values to survive and thrive.

v    We want to link our culture to economic development, affording the originators of that culture unique economic opportunity.

v    We know that socio-economic inequities exist where wealth generated by culture is disproportionate to what finds its way back to the originators of the culture.

v    Global markets remain largely untapped for Louisiana culture and tourism.

v    It is nearly impossible to compete globally with a working knowledge of only one language.

v    We can channel and develop our cultural heritage into a valuable and valued source of jobs, economic development and wealth for our children’s future.

v    We know that for “smart growth,” we must “grow smart.”

B. What will the School of Heritage/Foreign Languages offer?

l    It will provide students with a school in which French, Spanish and Chinese are taught.  (Emphasis on foreign languages; accent on local heritage languages.)

2    It will provide a destination school for those students already in immersion feeder programs.

3    It will provide a place for students with no prior foreign language background to become fluent in a second and/or third language.

4    It will provide an environment where validation of one’s culture is the norm; where students are empowered to translate their ideas and output into commercial success in the global economy.

5    It will provide career path themes of tourism & hospitality, international affairs and business, and economic development with emphasis on pre-professional, internship and apprenticeship programs.

6   It will provide students with world experience through travel and educational speakers.

7    It will provide students with the ability to study abroad after graduation.  (Possibility of using the International Baccalaureate program.)

8    It will provide leadership for other institutions in the cultural economy.


C. What are some possible extensions of the School of Heritage/Foreign Languages Program?

l    Create a “college” system integrating career paths, community, and core curriculum.

2    Offer the International Baccalaureate program.  (College prep curriculum stressing creativity, inquiry, service, and internationalism.)

3    Offer summer language immersion programs to high school and college students, similar to the Université de Sainte-Anne program in Nova Scotia (whose largest clientele are from Louisiana).  (Sainte-Anne University has recently opened an immersion program on the campus of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.)

4    Partner with the Reggio Emilia Early Childhood Learning Preschool, an enriched early childhood development approach (six months to six-years-old).  Reggio Emilia is the inspiration for the type of high end day care very attractive to corporations and the families of their employees.

D. What is the Center for Community Cultural Exchange?

l    It will provide tourists and locals with a place for cultural awareness and expression.
    
o    Cooking school
o    Performance venue
o    Local art exhibits
o    International video conferencing
o    International library

·    It will provide a space for cultural entrepreneurship: producing products and services with social and cultural meaning.

o    Cajun/Creole Culinary Arts
o    Mardi Gras enterprises
o    Music/Dance (Gospel, Zydeco, etc.)
o    French Louisiana Cultural Tourism Clearinghouse for products and services

·    It will provide cultural organizations with a place to commune and organize.

·    It will allow citizens to participate in the sharing of local culture.

E. What is the Center for International and Local Business Training?

1    It will offer objective specific training tailor made for individual business needs.

2    Language training for humanitarian organizations such as: USAID, Organization of American States (OAS), UNESCO, NGOs, local agencies, etc.

3    Immersion language and/or diversity training and seminars for company employees (oil & gas services, etc.).  

F. How will WSIL benefit the community?

l    It will create sense of place, a new sense of community, togetherness, and shared identity.
2    Acadiana’s authentic culture is a competitive advantage: the local community will come together to help our youth deliver original content.
3    Economic development: it will attract new industries and provide greater job opportunities and choices.
4    It will improve quality of life.
5    It will create a magnet for new international interest in Lafayette.
6    A mainstream institution will attract young cultural entrepreneurs.
7    It will create a workforce dedicated to the creation and growth of cultural businesses.
8    It will retain skilled cultural talent.
9    It will attract new cultural talent.
l0    It will offer opportunity for re-engaging expatriate community.
l1    It will identify and build upon new niche tourism markets.


IV. How is WSIL integral to the vision of Lafayette IN a Century (LINC)?

WSIL and LINC have common goals and objectives, especially with regard to:

·    Sustaining Lafayette’s values
·    Seeking greater variety and improved quality of life in Lafayette’s living and working environments
·    Planning for permanence
·    Leading through the cooperative process

WSIL is an institutional resource that may be directly applied to the vision of LINC’s Cultural and Economic Development Committees’ recommendations such as the following:

LINC Cultural Committee Recommendations:

Recommendation No. 2
Neighborhood-based, free-or-low-cost arts programs must be a priority within the new, per capita funding formula.

With WSIL’s focus on Arts & Entertainment, a newly engaged community can come together around WSIL-inspired events thus creating “(…) a greater sense of safety, ownership, and commitment to the community.”

Recommendation No. 3
A comprehensive, after-school program must include the arts as a key component and must be implemented for all Lafayette Parish public schools through collaborations among Lafayette Consolidated Government, area municipalities, Lafayette Parish School Board, Acadiana Arts Council, local businesses, and other community partners.

The arts are an integral thread in the WSIL model weaving from the school and throughout the local community.

Recommendation No. 4
LCG should adopt a strategic master plan for the cultural entertainment industry.

WSIL is designed to generate growth in the cultural entertainment industry with focus on the indigenous Cajun and Creole forms of cultural expression.

Recommendation No. 7
There must be official designation of an arts district in which the cultural entertainment industry can center, thus creating economies of scale and increasing the number of venues within close proximity and within easy access of local patrons and tourists.

The proximity of WSIL to the crossroads of I-10 and I-49, to downtown Lafayette and to the very neighborhoods of North Lafayette (where much of the local culture originates), will stimulate new market visibility by the very nature of WSIL as nexus of new cultural/arts clusters.

LINC Economic Development Recommendations:

Recommendation 1
The Lafayette Parish School System must pay classroom teachers a salary in a range to expect to attract the best educators for every Parish student. Salaries for Lafayette Parish educators should be competitive with neighboring Parishes and States. Lafayette Parish must reach above the Southern Average and strive to rank in the top ten percent nationally, and Number 1 in the State in all categories of education in the Nation.

In striving to rank “Number 1 in the State in all categories of education in the Nation,” WSIL offers Lafayette the opportunity of possessing a world class academy if expectations are for Lafayette to compete in a World Class Global Economy.  According to Worldwide ERC, the association for employee relocation, Lafayette ranks sixth among best cities for relocating families.  None of the five cities that ranked higher than Lafayette has anything even remotely resembling an international institute.

Recommendation 9
The Lafayette Parish School System must further develop and promote "Career Tracks Learning Programs" for Lafayette Parish students promoting vocational learning in business, technology, and other non-secondary trade education career paths.

WSIL offers career path themes of tourism & hospitality, international affairs and business, and economic development, all designed to keep our creative class in our area.

Recommendation 11
The Lafayette Parish School System must establish a "JUST IN TIME" philosophy and strategy for education. Education must fit the needs of business, industry, and society. Lafayette must remain time sensitive to meet the current needs of business and economic development, but flexible enough to adjust to future needs as well.

WSIL embraces the principles of learning as an evolutionary process and not in isolation; therefore, curricula will be time sensitive and fit the needs of the students to the business and technology of the day.    

Recommendation 12
L.C.G. and local municipalities must capitalize on local cultural assets in the arts and the humanities. One example of this would be to promote all aspects of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Music by offering instruction in traditional music as well as the business and technology of the music industry.

Central to the WSIL concept is linkage of the local culture to the global economy.  Career paths in music and entertainment will lead the charge in WSIL’s efforts to grow the origination, production and distribution of the products and services of the local creative class.

Recommendation 14
L.C.G., local municipalities, and the private sector must continue to aggressively support and provide life-long and distance learning to the parish workforce. Continuing Educational programs promote the development of qualified and skilled workers by offering them the opportunity to update workforce skills through local educational institutions (the University of Louisiana and Lafayette Community College).

As a “clearinghouse” for Louisiana French products and services, WSIL will be able to provide continuing educational training, particularly in the sector of cultural tourism, thus responding to the needs of this huge market.

Recommendation 31
L.C.G., local municipalities, and the private sector should embark on a business specific advertising campaign to promote Lafayette Parish for business and company recruitment.
(Music Hall of Fame)

Recommendation 32
L.C.G., local municipalities, and the private sector should embark on a campaign to raise funds to develop and build "The Cajun, Creole and Zydeco Music Hall of Fame" to honor contributions to our native cultures and develop a year round tourist attraction for the whole world to visit.
(The Industry of Music)

Recommendation 33
L.C.G., local municipalities, and the private sector should continue to study, quantify, develop, and promote all aspects and phases of the Industry of Music in Lafayette realizing the Music Industry's positive impact on Economic Development in the Region and contribution to the Nation and other cultures around the world.

Recommendations 31-33:  WSIL will act as incubator for the business of culture with emphasis on not only music but all aspects of indigenous culture that impact the economy and quality of life.

Recommendation 34
L.C.G., local municipalities, and the private sector should embark on a local campaign to continue to develop personal pride in all those who live here and contribute to the unique cultures of our region. Lafayette Parish must believe in itself first as well as its assets and contributions to the state, nation, and the world in order to compete and participate in a global economy.

WSIL will promote community pride (particularly by positively reinforcing the cultural heritage identity of youth) and yield a higher quality of life while generating significant economic benefits.


V. Plan

Since the December 15, 2005 Lafayette North Planning Commission meeting, input has been gathered from a broad base of North Lafayette stakeholders, including Lafayette Superintendent of Schools, Dr. James Easton, City-Parish President, Joey Durel, and the Greater Southwest  Louisiana Black Chamber of Commerce.  

Officially, the planning process for the creation of the World Studies Institute of Louisiana began on May 15, 2006 with the first meeting of the Steering Committee.  Regular Steering Committee meetings were held leading to the establishment of a 501 (c) 3 corporation for the purpose of governance.  

VI. Conclusion

Time is running out.  Lafayette may never again have the opportunity that now presents itself for transforming the Acadiana region into the cultural crossroads for the Americas.  We are all part of the global economy, but what affords Lafayette an unheard of competitive advantage are our direct international connections, thanks to our Cajun/Creole heritage and culture.  And nowhere in Lafayette are those cultures more in evidence than in North Lafayette.

World Studies Institute of Louisiana (WSIL) is established on the premise that culture generates economic value while promoting health, improved learning, and more cohesive communities.  WSIL will be a true institution – an anchor for a local culture heretofore deprived of any institution normally necessary for sustaining a culture.   

Central to the WSIL philosophy is the concept of articulating firstly the Louisiana French language to the international market place by joining local Francophones of all ages with middle and high school students, all in an environment bathed in diverse expressions of the Cajun and Creole cultures.  The pedagogical mission of WSIL is instruction in both heritage languages (French and Spanish) and “critical need” languages (Chinese).  There is also a vocational mission found primarily in the “creative economy” aspect of the program.  The business community will benefit from the WSIL’s training center for local and international businesses.  WSIL will also create a space where valuable cultural human resources (most living in Lafayette North) may come together with students and visitors for authentic cultural exchange.

Here is a model for enabling South Louisiana creative industries to flourish in regard to production, distribution and export of those products and services.  Here is a model for bringing together all community stakeholders focusing on an exciting future built upon our common values.  Here is a model that must be adopted and implemented by a community with the foresight to act best on behalf and in the interest of present and future populations.  Here is a model for the World Studies Institute of Louisiana.

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