These tasks are undertaken in learning circles during JAS sessions, held twice weekly at the Neighborhood House in the West Side. Learning circles also form the basis for the sharing of cultural traditions and for participation in community projects. Sharing of cultural traditions. Examples of this activity include demonstrations of and training in Hmong crafts, sharing of traditional cuisine, and storytelling. The emphasis is on the value of Hmong and Latino immigrants' native cultures, and on the immigrants' capacity to teach college and high school participants lessons that are not offered in the academic setting.
Translators ensure that the entire circle is able to participate equally in the exchange.
Often what is discussed during the cultural exchange segment of the session will be carried back for further conversation among learning pairs or small groups during the remainder of the session. Community projects are essential to JAS' commitment to active citizenship. Working with the Neighborhood House and other community organizations, JAS learning circles have worked together to create a community farming project, a mural, an education initiative at the local high school, a health project, and a community-wide celebration known as the West Side Freedom Festival. Beneficiary of Services Latino and Hmong residents of St. Paul's West Side neighborhood, students and professors of the University of Minnesota and the College of St. Catherine, students of Humboldt High School, and other community members affiliated with the Neighborhood House and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. In keeping with its commitment to non-hierarchical, democratic practices, the Jane Addams School does not have a Board of Directors or any other kind of governing body.