Plainfield Student DNA History Project

The Description

These funds will be used to help high school students at the Plainfield Academy for the Arts & Advanced Studies purchase DNA testing kits from Ancestry.com. This DNA project will give the participating students the opportunity to find a starting point in their history. It will provide the participating students with some insight into how deep and complicated their personal history is and begin the process of them understanding where they fit into the story of humanity. As the demographics of the Plainfield Public Schools continue to change, a secondary purpose of the project is to show African American and Latino students the commonality of their histories. Many of the students’ understanding of what it means to be African American or Latino will be fundamentally shifted by the results of their DNA histories. 

Where we need help is in defraying the cost of the DNA test for each of the participating students. The ancestry.com DNA kits and testing service that we would like to use cost cost approximately $110 per student. Participation in this project is optional for the students and contingent on their parents agreeing to allow their participation. The goal, however, is to ensure that financial challenges are not a reason for any student to decline participation. To that end, we have 17 students currently in enrolled in the course that are participating in this project so we need to raise approximately $1,870 in order for all of the enrolled students to be able to participate without any out-of-pocket cost to them. Our stated fundraising goal is $1,928 which includes the cost of online payment processing fees (3%).

Back Up Plan

If  we do not reach our goal on this platform, we will try to raise the funds through more traditional means such as bake sales and face-to-face requests for funding from members of our local community. The problem with this strategy, however, is that it is a slower process and we need to complete the project before the end of the school year.  

Fundraiser Updates (3)

Final Update

June 27, 2019

Hello Donors!

We just wanted to give you a final update on our project. Thanks to your generosity, the entire 2018-19 PAAAS African American/Latino History class was able to have their DNA analyzed by ancestry.com at absolutely no cost to any of them. Attached to this update is a link to a video in which some of the students reflect on their experience in the project. The students that participated all discovered some surprising data about their genetic makeup that made them think deeply about their identities. The project forced them to reconcile their self-created identity with their biological one. None of the revelations that these students had about themselves would have been possible without your direct help and we hope that we can call on you to help future students have the same experience in succeeding years. 

Have a great summer!

https://vimeo.com/343483084

 

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/343483084" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/343483084">2019 PAAAS DNA VIDEO</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/plummermedia">Joel Plummer</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

Thank you!

April 29, 2019

The DNA kits are now in the hand of the students you supported! Tomorrow we will send our samples off to be processed. We will keep you posted on the results!

Thank you again!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 21, 2019

Thanks to all of you, we easily met out goal and then some. You raised the needed money so quickly that we are ending this fundraiser today because we actually are receiving more money than we can spend (which is a great problem to have!).

We thank you so much for how quickly you put your generosity into action to help the students in this class. Your speedy donations are extremely helpful because this is a time-sensitive project and now our timeline to buy the DNA kits has been sped up by several weeks which is invaluable. We will continue to send you updates as the project progresses.

Thank you again for all of your support!!

 

Comments (3)

Tamika March 15, 2019

Congratulations on exceeding your goal! I’m late to the party but have a DNA celebration lunch or something with the kiddies! You rock!!!

Eric Hopkins March 13, 2019

Thank you for teaching me about myself I hope this can inspire the next generation to keep trying to find the power within!

Shanda Johnson March 13, 2019

The best of luck with this project!

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About the Creator

Joel I. Plummer is a professional educator and photojournalist whose work has focused on amplifying the voices of people that too often go unheard. He graduated from Rutgers-Newark where he earned a B.A. in African American Studies and a M.A. in history. He also completed the Rutgers Graduate School of Education's Supervisor's Endorsement program. For nearly twenty years, he has taught history at the secondary level and for the past nine years, has taught in the Africana Studies department at Rutgers University. As a photojournalist, his work has been used by The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, NBC, CBS, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and numerous international media outlets. In 2017, he joined New York University’s Translucent Borders program with which he travelled to Ghana to photograph collaborations between African and American artists. His most recent project was a photo documentary that he created from the images he made while spending four years covering the Black Lives Matter Movement (www.blacklivesmatterbook.com). He is a product of the Plainfield Public School District and still lives in Plainfield with his wife, Danielle, and their children, Alexis, Morgan, and Mason.

Investments (42)

$10

Dontae Booth

6 years ago

$25

Roy Southerland

6 years ago

$50

Tamika Stembridge

6 years ago

$5

Khandice West

6 years ago

$25

James Plummer

6 years ago

$25

Diane Rushdan

6 years ago

$5

Monteiah Walker

6 years ago

$50

Tania Duran

6 years ago

$53

Theodore J. Dwight

6 years ago

$20

Eric Hopkins

6 years ago

$25

Michelle Tulloch

6 years ago

$15

Anonymous

6 years ago

$50

Rashida Govan

6 years ago

$45

Alrick Brown

6 years ago

$110

Kahleah Copper

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$25

Marcia Worthy

6 years ago

$25

Kaline Smith

6 years ago

$50

Faith Young

6 years ago

$200

leslie anderson

6 years ago

$25

Shanda Johnson

6 years ago

$25

Anonymous

6 years ago

$50

Tyshaun Hawkins

6 years ago

$150

Anonymous

6 years ago

$25

Ryan Madison

6 years ago

$5

Jalisa House

6 years ago

$5

Ashley Stanley

6 years ago

$100

Oscar J Buendia

6 years ago

$40

Karen Desir

6 years ago

$25

Roosevelt Cooper

6 years ago

$100

Jacqueem Winston

6 years ago

$50

V Fludd

6 years ago

$25

V Fludd

6 years ago

$25

Lundon Wilson

6 years ago

$110

Shemika Brooks

6 years ago

$50

William Patterson

6 years ago

$100

Jazmine Green

6 years ago

$35

Anonymous

6 years ago

$110

Danielle N Pompey

6 years ago

$60

Joe Johnson

6 years ago

$50

Joe Johnson

6 years ago

$110

Ashley Johnson

6 years ago

$5

Joel Plummer

6 years ago