The scamp school
2017-2018
community organizing, social practice
founded by Nori Needle and Joe Hart in 2017, the scamp school was a youth liberation collective based in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Both hart and needle were unschooled which permitted them the agency to quickly become integrated into their political landscape and engage with activism and direct action.
the scamp school was born from needle and hart’s love for play, specifically as an educational and organizing tool, as well as from the desire to make the ideas of unschooling and direct action more accessible to youth who may not otherwise come into contact with them.
initially, the scamp school began by releasing the first “scamp school textbook”, a zine featuring notes on youth liberation and packed full with homemade playground games developed by worcester area punks who, at the time, would run the occasional playground night.
the scamp school saw the potential in these punk-run playground nights to become an organizing mechanism. the scamp school wanted to use play as a means to explore the nature of fun, risk taking, bodily autonomy, self governance, space occupation, and community building for Worcester’s youth. For the duration of the summer, the scamp school organized their own weekly meet-ups at a local park. The purpose of these events was to create an intergenerational autonomous zone where children and adults could come together, learn and play with one another, and practice collective decision making.
The Scamp School ran 14 consecutive weeks of what became to be known as “scamp nights” in 2017 and 16 weeks during the summer of 2018.
The time in between the two summers saw the release of the scamp school textbook: 2nd edition, an updated version of the original zine featuring puzzles, coloring pages, art, and new games designed for and by scamps.
view full zine here.
The majority of the events were conducted in an improvisational manner other than the prepping lots of milk crates, sticks, and bike tires, etc. However, on occasion, a predetermined optional workshop or activity was scheduled.
one particularly magical moment was when legendary radical brass band What Cheer? Brigade was invited to come perform in the park during a scamp night. neighbors from all around came out of their homes to join the party. more and more people seemed to appear from no where. One scamp thought it would be a good idea to text their parents to invite them down only to discover that the parents were already there.
https://youtu.be/FpDC0Zou1rUhttps://youtu.be/2k0AiqRAHJE
after two years of the collective operating, the scamp school entered into an indefinite hiatus. however, youth everywhere are encouraged to start their own school of scamps.
rest in power erick kang’ethe
a true scamp through and through
we miss you, we love you
