Summer Academy 2009

This summer, the UCCP supported over 90 youth in becoming more confident and effective leaders! Below we report on our two regular summer programs - the Temple Youth VOICES Summer Academy and the Leadership Development Institute. You can read about the other cool projects we supported this summer here and here and learn about our new big organizational initiative - the Youth Action Scholars!

VOICES 1.0

This summer 28 brand new Philadelphia youth participated in a 6-week Temple Youth VOICES introductory curriculum. Working in two groups and engaging in community awareness activities, critical thinking and media production, the students created two of the best first time short films the summer has ever seen. These youth were instructed by Leaders Corps members Taesha White (Sophomore @ St. Joseph's University) Nastassia Harewood (Graduated from Maritime Academy Charter HS), Kianni Brooks (Freshman @ Eastern University PA) and Reese Acree (member of V-Media), all of whom had been Temple Youth VOICES participants in the past.

The film The Educated Thinkers explores the many dimensions of addiction prevalent among youth today. Through confessions of teens addicted to everything from the Internet and video games to marijuana and sexual promiscuity, the film addresses the dangers and consequences that lurk in young people’s everyday environments. The group presented their project to 10 judges and thousands of other youth at the annual Philadelphia Youth Network Summer Project Convention.

Begging for Love is a film that explores the thin line between child abuse and parental neglect. Through two interconnected stories of young women that suffer from dysfunctional relationships with their parents, the film demonstrates the possible causes and the tragic consequences of family abuse.

Leadership Development Institute

For the fourth summer in a row, the UCCP ran a Leadership Development Institute for young adults interested in becoming part of UCCP’s Leaders Corps. The 6 week institute is open to former Temple Youth VOICES and POWER Internship participants who have graduated from high school and to Temple University students who have interned with the UCCP in the past. The students receive training in curriculum building, lesson planning, project management and facilitation and explore the concepts of youth oppression and empowerment, political education, and personal development. To apply their newly gained knowledge, the LDI students facilitated ice breakers with VOICES 1.0 participants and conducted an all day workshop at the Norris Square Neighborhood Project on Recycling and Urban Gardening. They also received basic training in media production and created a short promotional film for the UCCP.

At the completion of the institute, the trainees are eligible to apply to work with the UCCP in the Fall as facilitators for VOICES afterschool and POWER internship programs. This year’s LDI was facilitated by current LC members Bo Nicholson (Temple Graduate and now first year teacher at Our Mother of Sorrows) and Earl Joseph (who graduated from CCP last may and is beginning his first year at Temple University).