UCCP Newswire

UCCP Summer Academy 2011

2011-09-23T15:30:00.007-04:00

This summer, UCCP hosted another successful summer academy, providing an opportunity for 25 Philadelphia youth and 9 Leader Corps members to spend 6 weeks working to develop leadership and media production skills and educate others about important issues in their community.

Read the stories about specific projects below and check out some more pictures of this summer on our Flickr account!

POPPYN Summer 2011!

2011-09-23T13:47:00.004-04:00

This summer UCCP’s home-grown news show POPPYN (Presenting Our Perspective on Philly Youth News) welcomed a new cohort of young members to its team, representing many Philadelphia neighborhoods and schools: Kensington/ Kensington Culinary Academy, Olney/ Science Leadership Academy, Center City/ Mastery Charter School, South Philly/ Horace Furness High School, North Philly/ Tacony Academy, Brewerytown/ Constitution High. Students were trained by UCCP’s veteran V-Media producers Saeed Briscoe and Taesha White on media production and literacy, with support of Temple University intern Lynsey Graeff.

The new crew learned the mission of POPPYN and what it takes to produce an episode by jumping right into the process, assuming the jobs of researchers, anchors, reporters, camera people and editors in the production of POPPYN #5! Episode 5 focused on food in Philadelphia, highlighting the efforts of youth-led urban nutrition and gardening programs like Urban Nutrition Initiative and Teens 4 Good. Also featured were interviews and facts about teens’ favorite foods, a deconstruction of ethnic food stereotypes and a report from a National youth-run community-agriculture conference called Rooted in Community. You can see all these stories as well as more creative interpretations of the theme on POPPYN’s website: http://whatspoppyn.blogspot.com

Additionaly, four of the young POPPYN crew member had an opportunity to participate in the National Association for Media Literacy Education conference this July in Philadelphia. Our participants worked with youth from all over the country as part of the M3 (Modern Media Makers) camp, dedicating over 48 hours of their weekend to collaborative production of 5 short genre-specific film pieces that creatively interpret the definition of media literacy. See their amazing, hilarious and inspired work at the NAMLE M3 blog: http://namle.net/2011/08/18/modern-media-makers-m3-archive-project-philly-2011/

A big thank you to Mosi Blaylock, a UCCP Leaders Corps member who accompanied and supported the youth at M3 through the entire camp.

Third year of YAS to a strong start!

2011-09-23T13:42:00.004-04:00

The 2011-2012 Youth Action Scholars are off to a great start! This past July, 20 high school students from a variety of schools and neighborhoods came together to take part in the six-week summer session kick-off of the program year. Led by Leader Corps members Kenny Williams-Medley and Earla Joseph, this year's YAS participants are looking at two important issues that affect their communities. Kenny's group is investigating Diversity and Immigration in Philadelphia, specficially looking at how immigration is affecting and changing the face of our city, as well as the unique set of issues and challenges immigrants (especially immigrant youth) and their communities face once they arrive here in Philadelphia. Earla's group is taking a closer look at the Juvenile Justice System, and the racial and socioeconomic inequalities which result in the incarceration of a disproportionate amount of poor and minority youth. The students worked hard to put together two interactive and engaging workshops on their respective topics, which they were able to practice for family and friends at the final event. This fall, their hard work will continue with the addition of a media component to each workshop, field trips to community organizations, presenting their workshops to peer and adult groups, and more. We are looking forward to a productive and inspriring year!

Leadership Development Institute 2011

2011-09-23T13:39:00.002-04:00

Every summer we provide the opportunity for a select group of past participants and Temple University students to participate in our Leadership Development Institute (LDI) to gain a working knowledge of our organization, the process of youth leadership development and project facilitation. Successful graduates of the LDI are eligible to become part of UCCP’s Leaders Corps, a dedicated group of talented young adults who facilitate all of our programs.

LDI participants are trained on hard skills of facilitation, project planning, curriculum development, issue research, and UCCP’s philosophy of youth-led project-based learning. As part of their training the LDI participants, like the youth they’ll be working with, have to collectively identify an issue, create a media project, prepare a presentation, and facilitate an activity. Through the experiential learning process, the LC-in-training gain a better understanding of the challenges they’ll face in supporting a youth-driven community engagement project.

Five outstanding young people completed the LDI this summer, producing a powerful project on the representation of women in the media. We are excited to welcome them to the Leaders Corps: Lynsey Graeff and Jessica Arce who will be working with POPPYN, Taneka Price and Adeoyin Otolorin ‘Dee’ who will be working with VOICES and Norman Scott who will be working with the POWER Internship.

Youth Action Scholars take "Reality Check" to Free Minds Free People!

2011-09-23T13:33:00.004-04:00

Youth Action Scholars Taneka Price and Jabari Jackson, with the leadership of Kenny Williams-Medley and Alie Huxta presented a powerful interactive workshop to an audience of more than 30 youth and adults at the Free Minds Free People conference in Providence, RI. Workshop attendees got a "Reality Check" on the relationships between media ownership and representation and school funding and leadership. Content for the workshop has been developed by Youth Action Scholar participants in the "Education" and "Race, Culture & Mass Media" groups over the course of 2010-2011 program year. Thank you FMFP for the amazing opportunity to share and network with likeminded social justice educators!

2011 Experiment in International Living Recepients!

2011-06-13T15:03:00.001-04:00

Over the past 8 years the UCCP has partnered with the Experiment in International Living to provide a unique opportunity for students to travel & study abroad. We have supported 27 students over the years. They can choose from 52 programs in 29 different countries around the world! The program couples rural home-stay experiences with tailored intensive arts, language, or community service exposure. This summer:

Johntel Ogden (High School Junior/ Youth Action Scholar) will spend 4 weeks between Guadix, Preiego de Cordoba with his host family near the Mediterranean. The second half of his trip will be spent in Adelucia, Spain studying at a Spanish language school testing out his new vocabulary navigating the plaza and markets while participating in an annual celebrations including a festival and parade.

Angela Hagins (High School Sophomore/ VOICES after school program Participant) will be on a Costa Rican ecological adventure! Her 5 week trips starts with studying nature reserves and bio-parks in San Jose. She wraps up her trip with a 12 day homestay in Pejivalle/Sante Maria surrounded by sugar cane fields and green mountains (untouched by industrialization)

The students were assisted by a wonderful Political Sceince intern Atusa Shirasb!

VOICES on Dating Violence, Cyberbullying and Self-Esteem

2011-06-13T14:17:00.005-04:00

This semester VOICES welcomed 3 first-time Leaders Corps instructors (Donyel Gaymon, Jaimie White & Akua Whitaker) along with two senior LC members to facilitate 3 projects with 31 VOICES participants. After excellent presentations at the Project Proposal showcase this past December the students used that feedback to fuel their project ideas and take their campaigns to the next level.

One group tackled Cyber Bullying by presenting a workshop to their high school peers. Using their personal experiences of being bullied, witnessing a bullying incident or even being the bully themselves, the participants designed the activities and their message to offer holistic solutions for all who are affected.

A group of high school seniors from South Philly, Strawberry Mansion and Parkway Northwest high schools found the common thread of their senior projects in the importance of building Self-Esteem and Confidence. They presented a workshop and a PSA to a room with middle school students at Penrose Recreation Center and led a dialog around the importance of "believing in yourself." All who attended left inspired!

Another group decided to tackle the lack of resources offered to youth when they are in situations of Dating Violence. They produced a film to show the warning signs and to offer help to both males and females who are being abused verbally, physically and mentally by a partner.

This VOICES semester was filled with hard work but also lots of fun rewards, including an ice skating event at Penn's Landing, Spring Break Activities that included our annual ice cream social & game night, and a Saturday afternoon of Laser Tag, bowling, pool, games and pizza in Feasterville, Pa.

Thank you to our Political Science Interns from PS3132 (Hillary Garvanne, Josh Grajewski, Brittany Wilkerson and Andrew Bollinger) as well as media prodution support from Saeed Briscoe, Nastassia Harewood, and Jessica Arce.

Starfinder Project Based Collaboration

2011-06-09T12:11:00.003-04:00

Since January 2011, UCCP has been working with Starfinder Foundation, a youth empowerment soccer program, to train a number of their high school students for their summer jobs as soccer coaches. Using UCCP's signature Project Based Collaboration format, Johannah Bennett and Kenny Williams-Medley have conducted workshops on diversity, public speaking, team work, leadership, critical thinking while developing a project on the student-chosen issue of Teen Pregnancy. In the course of 7 weeks, students created a variety of mini-skits in order to spark dialogues between teens and parents. The skits focused on a variety of scenarios that teens may find themselves in (being home alone with a boyfriend, not using protection and getting pregnant, going to a party where there is alcohol). The participants presented their skits to the UCCP's Youth Action Scholars. Currently, UCCP and Starfinder are continuing their partnership, develop ing a curriculum for their youth summer camp and training their youth leaders on facilitation and lesson planning.

POWER Fall 2010: "We are All Human"

2011-06-09T11:45:00.003-04:00

The Fall 2010 POWER Interns finished their semester with a success! The Interns, coming form Parkway Northwest, Science Leadership Academy and Freire Charter School, created a PSA titled “We Are All Human”, focusing on bringing awareness and fostering a dialogue amongst viewers around stereotypes and the negative impact they have on individuals and groups.

During the first weeks of POWER Internship, students participated in a variety of activities that challenged them to think deeper about how we are all affected by stereotypes and the impact it has on us personally. One of the most significant activities they participated in was “Identity Politics”, where Interns had to write 5 things about themselves that others had perceived of them. Quietly, Interns walked around and read the stereotypes that others and maybe even themselves had placed on one another. This is what solidified them as a team it enabled them to open up and trust one another.

The POWER Interns completed their workshop at Science Leadership Academy for 15 other students; they screened their PSA, facilitated activities, and engaged the audience in a discussion around this very sensitive topic.

Watch their PSA here:

Youth Action Scholars take "Reality Check" on the Road

2011-06-09T11:25:00.004-04:00

This spring has been a busy time for the Youth Action Scholars! This April they did their workshop "Reality Check: Beyond the Classroom" for participants at Starfinder Foundation, an organization that empowers youth through soccer. The high school seniors YAS presented to said that they "got to learn things they would never learn in school," which is what YAS is all about. Here is how the Scholars explain it:

What is "Reality Check"?

As students, we spend a lot time sitting in class and consuming media. Did you ever start to question these everyday experiences? Our workshop will look at these everyday surroundings, especially our Education and Media, and question the ideas formed by what we learn in school and see on TV and in movies. We will also break down the issues caused by media’s stereotypes of black people and education inequality to see how they can be addressed through action on different levels, whether it is between friends, in the government, or even your own mind. So get ready go BEYOND THE CLASSROOM for a REALITY CHECK.

Youth Action Scholars hosted a Teen Cafe at the Honickman Center at 23rd and Diamond St.on May 6th and presented "Reality Check" to a group of 30 youth. Participants included youth from Norris Square Neighborhood Project, UCCP and surrounding area. The youth had a similar response to "Reality Check" as Starfinder participants. One student from NSNP wrote on our evaluation that this workshop is going to "make me more critical of the TV shows I watch."

But YAS's largest opportunity is still to come! This July YAS was chosen to present at the Free Minds Free People Conference from July 8th to the 10th. 3 youth action scholars, Taneka Price, Alisha Simpkins, and Jabari Jackson will take Reality Check national! The mission of the Free Minds Free People Conference is:

Free Minds, Free People is a national conference that brings together teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. We seek to develop ways of teaching and learning both in and out of school that help us to build a more just society. The conference is a space in which these groups can learn from and teach each other, sharing knowledge, experience and strategies. Read more about the conference here: http://www.freemindsfreepeople.org/about

Community Engagement Goes "Down Under"

2011-06-07T14:54:00.003-04:00

Barbara Ferman, the UCCP’s Executive Director, was invited by the Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance to be a visiting international scholar this past spring. On what turned out to be a whirlwind tour of the country, she conducted over 15 workshops at 9 universities on topics related to how universities can more effectively work with their surrounding communities. The topics included Community Based Research; Engaged Teaching; Experiential Learning; Infrastructure and Capacity Building to support this work; and Youth Leadership Development, among others. True to fashion, the Australians were highly welcoming and exceptionally gracious. And, it was most inspiring to share cross cultural experiences on and hopes for university community engagement.

In the News: "From Philadelphia to Whyalla - models of community engagement."

What was POPPYN about 2010 (and how can it keep POPPYN in 2011?)

2010-12-15T11:52:00.010-05:00

Did you know that only 1% of youth-related stories in the mainstream media focus on "good deeds?" Privileged to be working with Philadelphia youth, we are better informed about the huge the contribution young people make to our city. So this Fall at the UCCP we launched a new initiative called POPPYN, which stands for Presenting Our Perspective onPhilly Youth News. It's a youth-produced news show about issues and events in Philadelphia that so often get ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream media. Our pilot episode is in the last stages of post-production and will be coming out - and coming to your e-mail box - very soon!

Inspired by our own co-opting of the adjective poppin' (which means both "cool" and "happening"), we asked the UCCP Leaders Corps and staff what was POPPYN for them in 2010. We also borrowed an idea from the "If I Had a Trillion Dollars" contest (we used it in our after school program to explore how the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be better distributed to help our community) and asked the LC what they would buy the UCCP if they had a Trillion Dollars. Hey - it's fun to dream!

Check out their answers in the video below:

Um, so.. our slightly more REALISTIC Wishlist includes getting our own lounge at Temple University, updating our cramped offices with new technology, investing in new state-of-the art media equipment to make initiatives like POPPYN even more, well, poppyn!... But also the little things that an organization working with youth never stops needing:Tokens, Pizza, Snacks, Board Games, Gift Cards, tickets to cool events,a Button Maker and of course Cold Hard Cash so we can take our participants to national conferences, support them traveling to other countries through Experiment in International Living, and paying the salaries of our staff and Leaders Corps. At the end of the day, it's all those little things that help us together create a city culture where youth feel supported, encouraged and represented.

You are a big part of what makes UCCP so POPPYN.

Please buy us something. The little stuff really adds up.

Happy Holidays.

The UCCP

Send cold hard cash (in check form) to:
UCCP-Temple University
4th Floor Gladfelter Hall, 1115 W. Berks St
Philadelphia, PA 19122

Moving On & Moving In...

2010-09-13T14:19:00.004-04:00

As some of you know, Alison (Alie) Huxta served as the UCCP’s VISTA for two years, during which time she took what was a very small POWER Internship program with a handful of students from a couple of high schools and built it into a truly POWERful part of the UCCP’s Leadership Development Continuum serving 30-35 juniors and seniors from over 20 high schools each year. The issues that these students have taken on during their internships (e.g. sexual violence; excessive consumerism and environmental sustainability; teen pregnancy; and media influence on youth), the energy and passion that they bring back to their schools and their fellow students and the written and verbal evaluations of the program from both participants and teachers, provide ample evidence of the amazing impact of Alie’s work. Alie also played a major role in shaping the Youth Action Scholars, the newest part of our Continuum, in which youth serve as peer educators on critical issues facing their communities and their schools. Despite our best efforts to keep Alie within the UCCP, she has decided to take a much needed “chill.” The entire UCCP family wishes Alie all the best as she travels, on foot and by car, through the back roads of the US. We are confident that she will make many discoveries and share them all with us when she returns. We can’t wait to hear the stories!

We are thrilled to welcome back Johannah Bennett, a former Leaders Corps member, who will become our new VISTA and who will coordinate the POWER Internship. Although Johannah left the Leaders Corps in 2009, she never really left the UCCP. She has formally collaborated with us from her positions with other organizations and, as the consummate networker, has always sought out exciting opportunities for the UCCP. Johannah already has a long list of plans for the POWER Internship and for the UCCP overall. I know they will be innovative, ambitious and lead to many fruitful prospects. If Johannah has not reached out to you yet, she will be doing so shortly. Let’s give her a wonderful welcome back!

Going National: Redefining What Civics Education is About

2010-09-13T14:13:00.002-04:00

In early September, the UCCP joined four other organizations in Boston for two days of intensive sharing, brainstorming and visioning on how best to prepare young people to be lifelong participants and leaders in the civic and political spheres. The organizations represent geographic and programming diversity but all share our passion for equipping young people with the skills, knowledge, and values that enable them to have an active voice in the issues that matter to them and to the larger society. The meetings resulted in a commitment to collaborate on promoting and expanding the practice of Action Civics, a process through which young people identify and address issues of importance to them through research, constituency building, action and reflection. Action Civics meets youth where they are and supports and values their voice, knowledge, experience and perspective. The organizations will share practices and tools, reach out to other organizations engaged in similar work, and develop strategies for re-defining the way civics is understood and practiced in schools and after school settings. We are thrilled to be part of this timely and critical work with CIRCLE (Tufts University in Massachusetts), Earth Force (Denver), Generation Citizen (Boston and Providence, RI), Mikva Challenge (Chicago) and Youth on Board (Boston). Stay tuned for updates on this exciting campaign.

Funding Updates

2010-09-13T14:09:00.002-04:00

We are extremely pleased to announce that the UCCP has been awarded three year grants from both the Pew Charitable Trusts and the William Penn Foundation. The Pew grant is to support our Progressive Youth Leadership Development Continuum while the William Penn Grant is to help us better align our activities and the activities of other out of school time providers with the city and school district’s educational priorities of decreasing the dropout rate and increasing the number of Philadelphia students who enter and complete college. We are proud to be a key part of these important goals. We also extend a deep thanks to YOUTHadelphia, the Youth Philanthropy Committee of the Philadelphia Foundation, for its support of our Youth Action Scholars initiative and to PHENND (the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development) for providing funding to help us launch our newest initiative, Youth Action News. Finally, we thank the wonderful individuals who gave generously to help us out in these hard economic times.

Summer Academy 2010

2010-09-08T16:36:00.006-04:00

The UCCP concluded its 2010 Summer Academy with a genuine triumph. On August 10th we hosted what will hopefully become an annual tradition – the Summer Summit – a day long event engaging youth and allies in interactive workshops, film screenings and community presentations.

The 2010 Summer Summit was an example of UCCP’s Youth Leadership in action. It was planned and facilitated by this year’s Leadership Development Institute participants – 18 and 19 year old youth training to become part of our Leaders Corps. The LDI participants created flyers, signs and program agendas, MC-ed the event, directed the audience to appropriate destinations, ordered and served food and made sure everything ran smoothly. They did a fantastic job and gained an experience in organizing and coordinating events that will be useful in their work at the UCCP and in colleges they heading to in the Fall. In addition to their preparation for the final event, the LDI participants learned many aspects of youth leadership development, lesson planning and facilitation and created and facilitated activities for younger youth from UCCP's programs and a new partner this summer - Cradles for Crayons.

Our second year cohort of Youth Action Scholars had the opportunity to test their workshops on Education and Race, Culture and Mass Media that they have been designing and practicing over the summer. The Scholars created 4 workshops on: how oppression affects education, contemporary representations of blackface in the media, where school funding comes from and how it works and analyzing symbols in popular and ancient cultures. They did a great job facilitating and engaging their workshop audience in interactively learning critical issues and applying them to their own lives. If you or your organization is interested in hosting a YAS workshop, please contact Phil Scott at apscott@temple.edu.

The Summit also features a gallery exhibit and documentary screening by a group of 10 students who participated in a PhotoVoice process of documenting positive and negative aspects of their Philadelphia communities through digital photography. Graciously hosted at Tyler School of Art’s beautiful Student Lounge, the exhibit, entitled “The Ghetto is Not Our Final Destination” showed Philadelphia from the eyes of these youth. Their documentary elaborated on issues of safety and violence in Philadelphia. The PhotoVoice project is especially grateful to our partners Maria Kefalas, Jill Chonody, Jill Welsh and Shayna McConville for supporting the group through contributions of finances, facilitation and facilities!

Finally, this summer’s three introductory VOICES groups presented their films on Violence, Teen Parenting and STDs. The groups spent 6 weeks learning essential skills including teamwork and public speaking while identifying a collective issue, researching about it and working together to create a film to address it. The groups created informative and engaging videos and power point presentations that they presented to an audience of youth and adults and received feedback for their work.

We as the UCCP staff and Leaders Corps feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to spend 6 weeks with these amazing and inspiring young people.

UCCP helps youth at StarFinder develop leadership & planning

2010-08-01T17:44:00.000-04:00

During the Spring of 2010 the UCCP worked closely with over 35 young people from the Starfinders Senior Leader Program, on UNICEF’s “Tap Project” and the “Starfinder Summer Camp.”

For 6 weeks Leaders Corps members Johannah Bennett, Gary Browne and Mosi Blaylock worked alongside the youth to develop a marketing strategy to raise money and social consciousness for UNICEF’s World Water Week. We used this as a springboard to assist the youth in further developing their public speaking, networking, event planning, leadership, and facilitation skills. As a result, the youth were able to not only educate themselves but spread awareness about the global water crisis. In the end, the youth were able to raise close to $300.00! (1$ a day will provide water to one person for 40 days and $500.00 will provide a hand pump for an entire community!)

The UCCP also partnered with Starfinder to help the youth leaders design its Summer Camp, which is an opportunity for many young people to experience their first part time jobs. To plan for it, we spent another six weeks helping to develop each student’s leadership abilities and self-confidence through various activities. Youth were given the opportunity to enhance their public speaking and communication skills, develop and implement activities, and understand the importance of effective planning, goal setting, and time management.

The UCCP was impressed by the youth's commitment and is looking forward to working with Starfinder Foundation in the future.

UCCP @ the Y-HEP Empowerment Summit

2010-07-01T16:31:00.000-04:00

On June 26th, the UCCP proudly collaborated with the Youth Health Empowerment Project to facilitate 3 workshops for their “One City, One Voice: Education & Empowerment Summit. “

Leaders Corps members Kenny Williams-Medley, Gary Browne, Reese Acree, Johannah Bennett and Earla Joseph in collaboration with our Youth Action Scholars Roy Fearon and Ralph Lemar facilitated 3 interactive workshops:

“Developing Youth Leaders” (for adults),
“WORKSHOP IN A BOX”(for youth peer educators!)
“MEDIA 4 UR CAUSE” (for all!).

The summit was a great success – fun, inspiring and empowering. We hope to continue a productive and supportive relationship with Y-HEP in the future.

H5D at Chester Youth Empowerment Summit

2010-06-01T17:37:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, May 8th, 2010 the Youth Action Scholars presented a workshop at the Chester Youth Collaborative Youth Council’s “Flip the Script, Stop the Violence” 2010 Chester Youth Empowerment Summit at Widener University. Workshop areas addressed: healthy relationships, life skills, violence prevention, bullying, peer pressure, conflict resolution, substance abuse, self-esteem, hip hop culture and more. Their workshop entitled “Self-Destruction” informed and empowered personal decision making for health and well-being. There was an awesome turnout, and the Youth Council did a great job! We look forward to working with them again in the future.

Building the Community Classroom - the Final Youth Action Scholar event of the Year

2010-06-01T16:37:00.005-04:00

The first year of the Youth Action Scholars concluded with a very successful final Teen Cafe on May 14th at Penrose Playground. The theme of the workshop was "Building the Community Classroom: Learning to Learn Outside of School.” All three YAS groups (Health 5 Dimensions, Race Culture and Mass Media, and Political Youth Team) did activities that exemplified their groups main messages and goals:

Race Culture and Mass Media did an activity that had the audience dialog about how much TV they watch and how it influences their perceptions. They then linked how society views black men and women in society.

The Political Youth Team did an activity in which the audience wore a blindfold that represented “how blind we are to the politics around us.” PYT then asked questions about everyday items such as water bottles, corner store snacks, and Walmart bags and challenged the participants to expand their minds and "go beyond the veil" to see how politics effects them.

Health 5 Dimensions group’s activity had the crowd rate their priorities of the 5 dimensions of health (spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, and social) and how they can better balance these dimensions.

After a rotation of these 3 activities the audience had to do an activity to see how Race, Health, and Politics all connect in our daily lives.

Thank you to YOUTHadelphia, PCVPC, parents, family, UCCP reps, and community members for coming out to this event. As one audience member reflected, "youth can teach adults a lot about how to run this city!" and this year, the UCCP’s Youth Action Scholars did indeed build a community classroom at the Penrose Playground!

POWER goes back to school

2010-05-14T14:50:00.001-04:00

The Fall 2009 POWER Intern groups closed out their sessions with two very successful presentations for their high school peers at Mariana Bracetti Academy. Both groups produced Public Service Announcements and designed interactive workshops on their chosen community issues: Sexual Violence and Exessive Consumption = Environmental Degradation. Showing a PSA entitled "Bent But Not Broken," the Sexual Violence group led a health class in a discussion about Rape, Molestation, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking, highlighting their causes, effects, and what to do if you are a victim. The Excessive Consumerism group challenged an environmental science class at Mariana Bracetti Academy with a provocative and creative PSA called "Do You Really Need a Bag?" Scattering plastic bags around the classrooms they asked students to imagine having their space look this way every day. They offered practical tips on recycling and reusing plastic that they learned in their meeting with Philadelphia's Director of Sustainability Katherine Gajewski.

See the Excessive Consumerism group's video below:

2nd Annual Power Breakfast

2010-05-14T14:18:00.003-04:00

We are excited to report that our 2nd Annual POWER Internship Breakfast at the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP) on May 13th brought together many of our current, past, and possible future schools together to appreciate the work we have done together and learn more about the other opportunities provided by the UCCP.

In attendance was South Philadelphia High School, West Philadelphia High School, Parkway NW High School for Peace and Social Justice, Marianna Bracetti Academy Charter School, Carver High School for Engineering and Science, YouthBuild Charter, Roxborough High School, Parkway West High School, and William Penn Charter. Several current POWER interns, Nyki Sanders, Fatimah Simpkins, Bradley Harley, Jabari Jackson, and Felicia Houston came to present about their projects and experiences so far.

Because of the cooperation of the schools we work with this year we have been able to bring together students from 17 different Philadelphia schools to address problems in their communities. Interns have created workshops, Public Service Announcements, and community events to bring awareness about these issues and urge other youth to take action. All of this would not be possible with out the collaboration with POWER Partnership schools. At the breakfast we celebrated these victories and also discussed ways to make the POWER internship stronger.

From this meeting the UCCP gained a sense of what each school is willing to contribute to the POWER relationships, including joint fundraising, writing letters of support, helping with recruitment and inviting POWER interns to do workshops at their school. Furthermore, everyone gained a sense of community around creating programs that help youth have a voice for change in their communities and schools.

Youth VOICES on Foster Care and Violence!

2010-05-02T14:25:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, May 1st VOICES held its Spring Final Event for the 2009- 2010 after-school programming cycle. This year's projects highlighted issues of the Foster Care/Adoption System & Violence in the city of Philadelphia. The success of this event was demonstrated by enthusiasm of the crowd to get involved in the future of these projects.

This year in particular the participants' projects were very personal to both them and their families: One student's mother was raised by foster parents and another has two adopted siblings; due to a violent incident at one of our participants' schools, his father transferred him to Charter school that is a 25 minute commute from his neighborhood. The final projects, as a result, reflect very deep and personal understanding of the issues: Violence is Played Out is a PSA exploring the many perspectives on how violence affects different Philadelphians, from city officials and parents to college students and youth. The group submitted their film to the Legs Against Arms Video Competition. The Sisters Project is a short film using quotes and stories from interviews with foster care and adopted youth. The students' hope to inspire other youth within these circumstances and bring awareness to adults to get involved by mentoring and or adopting.

The VOICES participants this year have shown tremendous dedication to each other and the program as well as a passion to being a part of the positive change in our community.

Spring Break Fun !

2010-03-12T17:20:00.003-05:00

During Temple University's Spring Break, the UCCP hosted fun activities for our youth participants from the VOICES after-school and POWER Internship programs. On Tuesday, March 9, we had an ice-cream social, where participants could bring friends, ate tasty concoctions and played games. On Thursday, March 11th, we hosted a parent night for parents of our youth to get a taste of what their kids do at the UCCP. Two moms invested time out of their busy lives to learn about our organization and participate in some interactive and critical thinking activities!

We are happy to share with you some snapshots from this week.

Year End Report

2010-03-01T17:07:00.001-05:00

We are proud to share with you the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia’s Year End Report.

Collecting stories and outcomes from September 2008 through December 2009, this report captures UCCP’s passion for, commitment to, and innovation in, empowering young people, growing fruitful partnerships and building a stronger community within and beyound the walls of our home at Temple University.

View UCCP’s Year End Report online.

http://www.temple.edu/uccp/pdfs/UCCP-AnnualReport2009.pdf

You may also request a print copy by contacting nsmirnov@temple.edu.

Teens Make PSA on Unhealthy Relationships at Furness High School

2010-02-05T13:39:00.002-05:00

For two months, the UCCP partnered with the United Communities Southeast Philadelphia to provide students participating in the Out of School Time program at Furness High School an opportunity to learn video production and create a video public service announcement on unhealthy teen dating.

Students in grades 9-12 met once a week with UCCP's V-Media facilitators Aaron Kennedy and Earla Joseph to learn the basics of film grammar and camera operation. In the course of the project, they wrote, storyboarded, shot and edited a short film called "Twisted Love," about a young girl who gets help after being abused by her boyfriend. In addition to editing the film, the students also designed the DVD menus and cover and created special features such as "Behind the Scenes" slideshows.

The film was screened for the OST students and staff on February 2, 2010.

The UCCP partners with organizations on a project-based basis to provide special opportunities, leadership training, and organizational capacity building around media, community partnership and youth leadership. Please contact Barbara Ferman at bferman [at] temple.edu to inquire about bringing a UCCP project based collaboration to your organization, school or community.

UCCP brings YouthBuild to Penrose for MLK 2010

2010-01-19T12:55:00.003-05:00

For the second year in a row, the UCCP used the MLK Day of Service as an opportunity to strengthen and improve our community partner and neighbor, Penrose Playground. This year, we were thrilled to partner with YouthBuild Charter School who brought their construction expertise, supplies and unrivaled energy and professionalism to the service day at the Penrose Recreation Center.

On January 18, 2010, students from YouthBuild Charter built custom shelves for the Penrose library, installed brand new cabinets in the kitchen, repained the walls, and put in beautiful french doors to separate the Rec Center's main space from the library room. The transformation was amazing!

The UCCP was especially happy to see other community partners take notice and invest energy into Penrose. Youth from Arthur Ashe Tennis and Education Center organized a clean-up in the area and students from the Temple Garden Club built raised beds. Other volunteers from Temple University and UCCP helped to paint the new shelves for the library. Temple University provided breakfast and water for the volunteers.

18 new Youth Have the POWER (internship)!

2009-12-21T16:31:00.006-05:00

18 high school juniors and seniors are currently interning with the UCCP through our innovative POWER Internship program. The POWER Partnership Schools this semester are Parkway North West, Parkway West, Bodine High School, Science Leadership Academy, and Elverson Military Academy. This batch of POWER interns are already outdoing last year’s group with their heated political discussions and leadership drive. In the past five sessions, the youth have explored Temple University’s campus, learned about and reflected on the systems of Power and Oppression in larger society and everyday realities, and organized and facilitated a Social Justice leaders panel with amazing Philadelphia educators and activists including Sandrine Dupiton, founder and editor of Change X magazine, Barbara Bungy, Youth Testing & Prevention Services Program Coordinator in the Pediatric/Adolescent HIV/AIDS Program at St. Christopher's Children's Hospital, Gary Browne, former CityYear volunteer, current LC member and college student and Liz Grinaldi, Executive Director of the Village of Arts and Humanities. After the holiday break, students will begin to choose which social problem they want to tackle, but so far they have really appreciated the space to discuss their thoughts about larger political and social issues that affect their lives. As one student shared gratefully, "I love to voice my opinion, and here, we get to just TALK!"

Stay tuned for their projects next semester. POWER internship is currently recruiting students for its Spring Internship cycle. Contact alisonhuxta [at] yahoo.com to get your students involved.

VOICES Fall 2009 & Project Proposal Showcase

2009-12-21T14:00:00.002-05:00

This semester VOICES welcomed three first-time Leaders Corps instructors, one Temple Political Science intern & twenty four new participants. For eight weeks, the youth and their young adult facilitators engaged in dialogue and workshops on community awareness and critical thinking. Using Philadelphia as their classroom and current events as the content, the groups discussed issues affecting the students, such as the Septa strike, increased school funding and rising racial violence. After researching their issues to develop their arguments, the participants received training from V-Media to create short videos about their issue, as a preview for their larger campaign in Spring 2010. The students showed great passion for their projects, commitment to their group members and increased their public speaking skills.

Youth also had the opportunity to attend two Saturday events this semester: the Temple University Homecoming Football Game at Lincoln Financial Field and Shot!, a "docudrama" about violence in North Philadelphia presented at Tomilson Theater.

We ended of the Fall Semester of VOICES with our annual Project Proposal Showcase on December 12, 2009. Three groups presented PowerPoint and Public Service Announcement videos on the three topics chosen this semester: violence (as played out in the media), high school drop out rate and foster care & adoption. An audience including Temple University professors and students as well as parents, friends and other youth asked the participants questions about the research findings and interviews. Media Literacy and Child and Welfare service providers as gave feedback and encouragement to the students about the work that they have already done.

Please stay tuned in the coming semester to see feature films entitled "Cinderell" and "Violence is Played Out!”

Thanks so much to all who attended and supported our youth!

Laying the groundwork for first year of Youth Action Scholars

2009-12-21T13:49:00.004-05:00

The Youth Action Scholars, our newest addition to the UCCP Progressive Youth Leadership Continuum, have spent the Fall semester carrying out the plans they created this summer. Here are some of the highlights of their progress:

Heath 5 Dimensions (H5D) ran a workshop November 20th at Penrose Playground exploring the five dimensions of health: Mental, Social, Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual. The workshop shop was attended by about 35 people who learned how to nourish themselves in these different aspects of health. Eric Dalloway from Urban Blazers, an organization that hosts outdoor trips for Philadelphia youth, spoke about the inequalities of recreational activities for low income youth in Philadelphia. He also provided easy ways to get to nature hikes right here in Philadelaphia! After his talk H5D facilitated an activity where the workshop were challenged to set up a tent and practice the 5 dimensions of health. It was a fun night of discussion, learning and eating healthy food.

The Polital Youth Team (PYT) is currently putting together a newsletter to urge young people to "go behind the veil" and "look deeper" into the politics that effect their daily lives. Some of their topics include: the profits of guns sales in the US, the social and political implications of Nike's Air Force Ones, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in teenagers, and food deserts in North Philadelphia. If you have questions about one or all of these issues, be sure to check out their first newsletter in Spring 2010!

Race, Culture, and Mass Media is almost finished putting together their first workshop on the importance of black youth understanding African AND African American History. The workshop will explore how historical occurrences have shaped the current mindsets and culture of black youth and demonstrate the significance of this missing history from the Philadelphia Public School curriculum. Please come out to this workshop January 29th at 4:30 at Penrose Playground! RCMM has also been hosting shows on blogtalkradio! Check out their first broadcast entitled "Whats Up with the African American History Curriculum?" at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/maatforbaba/2009/12/15/whats-up-with-african-american-history-curriculum

Philadelphia Youth Commission

2009-12-21T13:42:00.005-05:00

On Novemeber 21st and December 5th, 2009 fifteen representatives from the Philadelphia Youth Commission met at Temple University to participate in a strategic planning workshop for the organization. The UCCP facilitated a training on working as a team, and led a discussion on present and future challenges and opportunities for the Commission. We are thrilled to support and collaborate with this organization and its members, and share its commitment to including youth voice into the city government.

More Progress and Partnerships at Penrose Playground!

2009-12-21T13:31:00.004-05:00

For over nineteen months the UCCP has been working in the community surrounding Temple’s campus. Most of the work has been centered on Penrose Playground, in an effort to bring more activities and resources to the community. Work in the community began this year on MLK Day of Service by coordinating over 120 volunteers to clean and paint the Rec center and organize the library and supplies at the Playground. The UCCP also coordinated and hosted an event to celebrate the inauguration of president Obama and in April, the UCCP helped coordinate 100 Hours of Power in partnership with City Year and Teens for Good. During the summer we helped community leaders plan the 24th Camac/Diamond annual reunion. With UCCP’s support, organizations like Starfinder, Drexel School of Medicine and the Department of Public Dental Health at Temple University donated their time and came to provide free HIV testing, dental health related information and soccer activities for children in the community.

This Fall, the UCCP ran activities for children on the after school program including Karate, Dance and Craft making. For the holidays, two of our interns serving as Penrose Ambassadors organized a very successful Toy Drive and donated all the toys to the Playground to celebrate the holidays. Currently the UCCP is partnering with YouthBuild Charter School to do some needed renovations at the Playground. These renovations would take place before and during MLK Day 2010. Stay tuned for more developments!

Using Media to Address Youth & Violence in Philadelphia

2009-12-21T13:07:00.005-05:00

Encouraged by the positive feedback to and the dialogue-provoking power of Point Blank, a documentary about two recent gun shot victims created by our V-MEDIA members Aaron Kennedy and Earla Joseph, the UCCP has been using the film to start conversations with key stakeholders and the larger community around the culture of violence and its influence on Philadelphia youth.

Collaborating with Temple faculty, grad students, undergraduate interns and community leaders in the field, the UCCP hosted a screening of Point Blank and What's Your Story?, a PSA created by UCCP's POWER interns for the Temple community on October 29th, 2009. Dr. Sonja Peterson-Lewis moderated a panel of responders including Scott Charles, Trauma Outreach Coordinator at Temple Hospital and director of the Cradle-to-Grave program, Lieutenant Josey, a Philadelphia police officer actively involved in youth violence prevention, and Earl Joseph, a Temple Student, UCCP Leaders Corps member and a young Black male living in Philadelphia. The response from Temple students, community members and other faculty was overwhelming and the UCCP is planning to continue the conversation about this issue and its institutional and cultural causes and possible solutions with the Temple community.

In the meantime, we have been screening the film for a variety of selected groups , including a 7th and a 9th grade classes from Eastern University Academy Charter School, and a group of young men from Southwest and West Philadelphia. For requests to screen the film in your community, program or school, please contact Natalia Smirnov at nsmirnov (at) temple.edu.

We are very grateful to the Violence Discussion Group for contributing ideas, energy and creativity to this project : Dr. Jill Chonoody, Dr. Sonja Peterson-Lewis, Patricia Harner, Dr. Kay Harris, Nuala Cabral, Kathy Seizer, Courtney McNultey, Matt Gorman, Farhiya Tifow, Earla Joseph and Aaron Kennedy and other occasional and valued guests of the group.

Service Learning at YouthBuild

2009-12-21T12:07:00.002-05:00

This year the UCCP had the great pleasure to work with ten AmeriCorps members working at YouthBuild Charter School to help them plan Service Learning classes. The UCCP provided training on choosing an issue, facilitating ice-breakers and discussions and supporting youth project-based learning. We were very pleased with the results of this work and we are looking forward to see what service projects come out of these classes.

UCCP works with the Philadelphia School District to Strengthen Student Government

2009-12-21T11:49:00.005-05:00

This Fall the UCCP had the wonderful opportunity to work with the Philadelphia School District by providing a series of trainings for citywide student government representatives and the adult sponsors who help support student governments in their respective high schools. On September 3, one week before the beginning of the new school year, 48 passionate and committed high school students from across the city attended an all day training at Temple University on various aspects of leadership. Addressing topics such as the qualities, roles, and responsibilities of a leader, and issue identification, mobilization of support and development and execution of action oriented campaigns, these students demonstrated once again how high young people will reach when given the appropriate supports and opportunities. As a special incentive, Dr. Ackerman addressed the students and encouraged them to become advocates for educational improvement, promising $50,000 for them to launch an anti-truancy campaign. They have since developed the campaign – watch for it on local media!

The UCCP also had the opportunity to work with close to 50 adult sponsors from public schools across Philadelphia. During three training workshops in October, we engaged in ice breakers, small group activities, role playing and large group discussions, to collectively explore topics of democracy in schools, democracy in student governments, types and degrees of participation, attributes of youth leaders, importance of youth leadership, role of Adult Sponsors, supports needed, challenges, and effective youth adult partnerships. UCCP staff took the knowledge generated from these highly spirited activities and created a Living Document of Best Practices in Student Leadership for the School District.

UPCOMING EVENT: Survival and Success - Youth identity in the context of urban violence

2009-10-19T19:33:00.000-04:00

“Survival and Success.” Youth Identity in the context of Urban Violence.

How do young people in Philadelphia perceive and process the daily violence they encounter in their communities and institutions? How can we use media to understand their interpretations and appropriations of the culture of urban violence, and how can we in turn use this knowledge to negotiate our own interactions with and perceptions about youth and violence in Philadelphia?

Through screening and discussion of selected videos produced by young people in the UCCP's youth media programs, we hope to arrive at a better collective understanding of urban violence and how it affects young people, the larger community of Philadelphia and social institutions in America.

THURSDAY

OCTOBER 29, 2009

3-5pm

Center for Humanities at Temple (CHAT)

10th floor Gladfelter Hall, Temple University

1115 W. Berks St

The event is free and open to the public and will include a panel by youth, faculty, and special guests and interactive activities to engage the audience in a community dialogue.

Contact Barbara Ferman at bferman@temple.edu

Summer Academy 2009

2009-09-14T17:39:00.010-04:00

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).

Introducing the Youth Action Scholars!

2009-09-14T16:31:00.008-04:00

This summer marked the launch of a new level in the UCCP’s youth leadership continuum. Emphasizing the importance of both education and action, UCCP's new group called Youth Action Scholars provides an opportunity for successful VOICES after school and POWER Internship graduates to step up their leadership and commitment by working on a long term campaign to transform the world around them. This summer, 16 students ages 15-18 were selected into the program after going through a rigorous application and interview process in June. After being accepted as a potential Action Scholar, each young person had a chance to select the issue they wanted to focus on for their campaign. Forming 3 groups with 5-6 action scholars each, the youth and their Leaders Corps facilitators took on an ambitious summer educating themselves on the problems and root causes of their issues and setting a strategy for change. In the process, they met with relevant community organizations and nonprofits, developed organizing skills and created a long term action plan to reach the goals for their social change campaigns. In the upcoming year, the Scholars will meet once a week to continue working on their campaigns and organizing events around their issues.

The curriculum and structure for YAS was developed collectively by Alie Huxta, UCCP’s AmeriCorps VISTA and POWER Internship coordinator with UCCP’s Leaders Corps facilitators Dave Cruz, Ma’at ForBaba and Aaron Phil Scott.

MEET THE TEAMS:

Policial Youth Team (PYT) is committed to informing and educating young people in the community on the political issues that directly affect their lives, while also motivating them to critically analyze those issues. They plan to provide workshops and resources to those who want to make a change in their community. As a PYT would say, "We will go beyond the Veil of our everyday lives to show that Politics Is In Everything.”

Race, Culture and Mass Media (RCMM) - The youth in RCMM spent the summer researching and learning about the image of African Americans in media, and how African American history has been skewed by mass media and public schools. Their goal is to educate Philly youth on the history of their race and culture by creating a class curriculum relevant to the students’ culture and experience. To bring these goals into action they will host workshops about the importance of African American history, and also urge the Philadelphia School District to adopt a more multicultural curriculum based on the race and culture of its students.

Health 5 Dimensions (H5D)- After a year of successful Teen Health Cafes with The Net, a group of 6 youth expanded on this idea and morphed into a new group called H5D. This group will be educating others on a holistic approach to health that includes five dimensions: emotional, spiritual, social, physical, and intellectual. This year they aim to put on eight workshops advocating for this approach, and their long term goal is to start a healthy food stand in a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia, because for H5D, “Every Community is a Healthy Community.”

Young Gun Victims on Violence

2009-09-14T10:58:00.002-04:00

Point Blank is the name of a 10 minute documentary created this summer with help of two youth victims of gun violence. Khadij Davis and Darnell Monroe came to our program looking for a summer job and were surprised to find that their project involved learning filmmaking skills and narrating their own stories. Our two wonderful Leaders Corps members and seasoned media makers, Aaron Kennedy and Earla Joseph, facilitated the training, planning and shooting of the film. Although challenged by the needs of the youth they worked with and the delicate subject at hand, they were able to bring to life a project that delivers a piercing portrayal of violence in Philadelphia, especially among African American young men.

The UCCP has a deep commitment to helping young people address the topic of youth violence, an issue that affects many of our participants and Leaders Corps members. In the past we have hosted a forum for youth organizations to brainstorm ideas on forming a citywide peace campaign, supported a group of participants named Youth Action 4 Peace in creating a scholarship as a way to promote positive opportunities for inner city youth, run a series of workshops that culminated in a youth-led Peace Mini Conference and produced numerous media projects including PSAs, narrative films and documentaries exploring the issue. This was our first time working with gun shot victims. The project was possible with the ideas and support of Scott Charles from Temple University Hospital and Professor Maria Kefalas of St. Joseph’s University.

For screening requests, please contact Natalia at nsmirnov@temple.edu.

"Greetings from Philadelphia..."

2009-09-10T16:39:00.008-04:00

The exhibit "Greetings from Philadelphia" at Tyler's School of Art on August 12th, 2009 was the culmination of a six week summer program, where 23 youth presented to the public the past, present and dreams of their community.

This summer, fourteen youth from South West Philadelphia and nine youth from North Philadelphia were asked to become the curators of their own neighborhoods. The project was a departure from previous years for the UCCP. Aside from incorporating art as the main media form, the project also required organizational partnerships to support the different stages of the project. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, for example, graciously invited the youth to tour the museum providing them with a framework to see and understand art from different perspectives. The Urban Archives at Temple University welcomed the students to tour their facility and made available materials, maps and pictures so that the youth could study the history of their neighborhoods. A collaboration with Laura Deutch’s “Messages in Motion” project gave each one of the youth the opportunity to create a one minute video postcard about his/her life. One of our priorities during the project was to provide the youth with opportunities and access to resources they could use to bring their ideas to life. Our partnership with Myers Recreation Center through the City Lights Coalition provided the youth with support in their own community and encouraged them to see themselves as active and contributing members.

Last but not least, having access to the Temple Gallery at the Tyler School of Art was a great opportunity for the youth. Having their work displayed in a professional and legitimate setting was a particularly important experience, one that allowed them to see the value adults placed on their ideas and work.

Some pictures from the event:

Watch a video postcard from North Philadelphia's Nate about his community:

More postcards from the "Messages in Motion" project are available at http://www.youtube.com/user/ldeutch

Read about the event on North Philadelphia Arts + Culture Alliance's Website.

My World With Peace

2009-07-21T16:37:00.009-04:00

With the help of mini-grant funding from Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition under the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia initiative, the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia sought to strengthen the existing relationship between the UCCP’s Temple Youth VOICES Project and the Skills for Life (SFL) Program at the Vare Beacon center in South Philadelphia. A total of 18 students between the ages of 14 and 18 in grades 9- 12 participated in the project. Their hope was to create a local campaign for peace that put youth as the centerpiece of violence reduction efforts.

This was an opportunity for the high school students in the SFL program to gain hands-on workshop planning, development and facilitation skills while sharing knowledge with younger children. Over the course of eight sessions, for two hours every Wednesday beginning April 8, 2009 until May 27, 2009 the students researched activities and prepared icebreakers and discussion questions to engage other youth around violence, peer influence and assertive communication. These activities were planned for the culminating all-day Saturday workshop to follow.

The Youth Leaders for Peace Conference (YLPC) took place on Saturday May 30, 2009 at Temple University. Twenty-eight (28) youth between the ages of 8-12 accompanied by 5 adults participated from the community surrounding E.H. Vare Middle School in South Philadelphia. The conference activities included a sharing circle, interactive problem-solving simulations, an art activity to help us envision a world with peace and reflection journaling.

On June 18th the UCCP staff hosted a Community Recognition Dinner to honor both the SFL and conference participants and their families. Everyone received a completion certificates and many shared excerpts from their reflection papers. One Skills for Life Instructors commented that she “could not miss the opportunity to see her kids get recognized for something so great.”

Youth Leadership Workshops

2009-07-17T15:34:00.011-04:00

During the months of May and June the UCCP provided trainings for youth workers through United Way’s Community Impact Training Institute. The trainings covered the topics of "Youth Leadership", "Forming Youth Councils and Youth Advisory Boards" and "Youth, Media and Identity". The workshops were facilitated by UCCP's Assistant Director Catalina Gonzalez, Media Coordinator Natalia Smirnov and Leaders Corps members Gary Browne, Malikka Saeed, Dominic Eason, Earl Joseph and Victoria Holmes.

UCCP offers a variety of workshops around issues of urban youth perceptions and challenges, youth leadership development, youth-adult collaboration, social change education and media literacy and production. To bring a UCCP workshop to your school or organization, please contact Catalina Gonzalez at catalina.gonzalez@temple.edu.

Educate. Reform/Reflect.

2009-07-17T14:33:00.008-04:00

Its official! June 3rd the POWER interns wrapped up the Spring 2009 POWER Internship with two OUTSTANDING events.

As part of their social change project at the POWER internship, high school juniors and seniors planned, organized and facilitated workshops on community issues of their choice.

The "Why Youth Homelessness?" event held at St. John's Hospice and Shelter was a great success. The interns presented a PSA on youth homelessness that they shot and edited to the staff and the men staying at the shelter. Following the PSA, the interns led a discussion about the invisibility of youth homelessness compared to the homelessness of adults. The staff and residents were very receptive and had lots of great questions. One of our interns, who is a homeless youth, gave a testimony and told her story about her life and what it is like to be homeless at such a young age. Overall the staff and residents were wowed by the interns' PSA and message about youth homelessness and all the interns did a a great job facilitating their activities and dialogue.

The "Can You Hear Us?" event held at Temple University with the Caring People's Alliance parenting group, from R.W. Brown community center, was also a success. The interns prepared a workshop for parents and teens to understand the importance of communication, and suggested strategies to build a healthy, communicative relationship. The interns led original activities such as Trading Places, in which the parents played the child and the child played the parent. They acted out scenarios and both parties had a chance to experience the others' perspective. The parents were reminded about how powerless a child can feel and the students realized what a huge responsibility raising a child is. The interns received several requests from the parents to come out to other community centers and facilitate the same workshop for other parents! The facilitation and leadership in this workshop was phenomenal and each intern really stepped up and felt they impacted the lives of the workshop participants.

Congratulations Spring 2009 POWER Interns! The UCCP is delighted to welcome several of the POWER graduates to our summer Leadership Development Institute to receive training as future Action Scholars and Leaders Corps members: Janay Eleazer (Sp 2008), Christiana Sanders (Fall 08), Brianna Jenkins (Fall 08), Terrell Merrill (Fall 08), Daniel Nunez (Sp 09), Chalisa Morrison (Sp 09), Roy Fearon (Sp 09), Stafford McCrea (Sp 09), Lyesha Fleming (Sp 09) and Bianca Cruz (Sp 09).

Project Based Collaboration with BUSTED! PA

2009-05-18T12:31:00.006-04:00

For ten weeks from December 2008 to March 2009 the UCCP worked with three youth from BUSTED! PA to develop media literacy and production skills. In the process, the youth in the program planned, shot and edited a short Anti-Smoking PSA titled "Stop and Think" that educates youth about the causes and effects of smoking.

The youth participants from the BUSTED! program used the knowledge and skills they developed through the collaboration to organize a workshop on media production for the BUSTED! Media Conference, which took place on May 9th at Temple University. The UCCP also facilitated a workshop on "Youth, Media and Identity" at the same conference, which focused on how media misrepresents young people and what impact it has in society.

Check out this video interview by Aaron Kennedy, a UCCP Leaders Corps member that worked on the BUSTED! project, for an inside look at the collaboration:

Special thanks to Aunnalea Grove from BUSTED! for supporting the partnership. For more info on how to bring a UCCP project based collaboration to your organization, contact Catalina Gonzalez at catalina.gonzalez@temple.edu.

Spring 2009 VOICES Final Showcase

2009-05-18T10:04:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, May 9, 2009 the Temple Youth VOICES Project held its FINAL SHOWCASE for 2008-2009! UCCP staff, Leaders Corps members, participants, parents and friends gathered in Temple University’s Student Center to celebrate the hard work done this year by our youth.

The powerful youth-driven social change campaigns included topics such as:

Teen Neglect
Youth Violence Reduction
Youth Representation in the Media
Youth Voices in the 2009 Budget Process
Homelessness
Prejudice

We also highlighted the great work being done at the Penrose Recreation Center by youth from the surrounding community as well as our monthly Teen Health Cafés facilitated by THE NET.

Our participants committed 2 afternoons per week for 20 weeks and invested almost 100 hours into making a difference in their communities!

Five Youth Receive Experiment in International Living Scholarships

2009-05-18T09:59:00.011-04:00

clockwise from left: EIL scholarship winners receive recognition at the VOICES Final event; Fred Shields holds up a China-themed cake made for him by a UCCP intern Jordan; Temple student Ava Burns hosts an EIL fundraising raffle at the Final Showcase.

The UCCP is proud to announce this year's Experiment in International Living Scholarship Winners:

Fred Shields (China)
Alexis Duprey (Japan)
Alexa Benjamin (France)
Isaiah Smith (Italy)
Ameera Young (Belize)

These outstanding 10th and 11th grader students were chosen based on the quality of their application and interview, as well as their track record of commitment to community engagement. Each will have an opportunity to spend between four and six weeks in a foreign country over the summer.

This year the scholarships ranged in value from $5,300 to $6,900. The UCCP is required to contribute $500 per scholarship. We would like to thank the following friends and partners for helping us raise this money:

Friends of Students Run Philly Style who raised $500 for Isaiah Smith (who, in addition to participating in VOICES, is in training for his 4th marathon!).
The National Pan-Hellenic Council for donating $1,000 in support of Ameera Young and Alexa Benjamin.
Marianna Bracetti Academy Charter High School for contributing $500 for Alexis Duprey.
UCCP Intern Ava Burns and EIL Alumni from the Temple Youth VOICES Project for sponsoring a raffle to support Fred Shields.

Be sure to check back in late August to see pictures from everyone's trips!

P.O.W.E.R. Breakfast for School Partners

2009-05-13T15:04:00.011-04:00

above: Ashley Stanley-Hopson, a P.O.W.E.R. Intern from Parkway Northwest shares her experience in the Internship with principals, teachers and community leaders.

On Thursday, May 7^th UCCP hosted the P.O.W.E.R. Internship Breakfast for eight of its current and future high school partners including Mariana Bracetti Academy, West Philly High, Parkway Northwest, Science Leadership Academy, Delaware Valley Charter High School, George Washington Carver, Roxborough High School, YouthBuild Charter and representatives from the Kid Zone Network. At the meeting, the guests had a chance to learn the nuts and bolts of what interns gain at the P.O.W.E.R. Internship, from leadership and media skills to exposure to social movements in Philadelphia. They also shared stories about the development they've seen in the current P.O.W.E.R. interns and heard a live testimonial from Ashley Stanley-Hopson, a senior at Parkway Northwest, who updated everyone about her P.O.W.E.R. internship project addressing Homeless Youth.

Part of the goal for the meeting was to inform the guests about the many opportunities UCCP has to offer to its partner schools, youth organizations and youth and students involved in them, including the credit-bearing POWER Internship for juniors and seniors, the VOICES after-school for youth 14-21, study abroad opportunities through the Experiment in International Living, senior project assistance, and a collection of workshops for youth practitioners, decision makers and young people themselves that provide tools and strategies to develop authentic youth leaders.

It was a privilege to sit at the table with so many incredible schools and organizations, and plant several seeds for powerful future collaborations. This meeting was just the beginning of all the great ideas that come about when dedicated educators (in the classroom and out) get together.

Click here to learn more about the P.O.W.E.R. Internship. To become a school or organizational partner or get updated about similar events in the future, contact Alie Huxta at alisonhuxta@yahoo.com.

Dwight Evans Civic Leadership Summit 2009

2009-05-13T14:55:00.001-04:00

Since 2006, the UCCP has collaborated with Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans’ Office to support their annual Civic Leadership Summit (DECLS). This year’s DECLS included teams from Martin Luther King, Parkway Northwest High Schools and Kidz Zone. The teams, composed of high school juniors and seniors with guidance and support from Temple students acting as collegiate advisers, developed public policy initiatives aimed at solving problems that affect their communities and schools. This year’s summit, held May 1st and 2nd at the Constitution Center, showcased solutions to problems like the effectiveness of standardized testing, cafeteria services, health and safety and the state of recreation centers. The Parkway Northwest HS team, which argued for the need for a cafeteria at their school won first place, receiving $1000 to implement the project. The team was supported by Michael Honeycutt, a UCCP intern.

Students Produce Media for Senior Projects at UCCP

2009-05-13T11:20:00.002-04:00

Clockwise from left: seniors Khalia Brooks, Lori Burton, Malcolm Walton, Gregory Coney and Daveer Fincher.

Inspired by last year's success of two media-powered senior projects created with the support of UCCP, this year we partnered with Pennsylvania Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND) to provide a series of workshops for high school seniors focusing their projects on media, music or culture. As part of the series, from March 4 to April 15th, UCCP worked with 5 students from Parkway Northwest, South Philly, Parkway West and Simon Gratz High Schools whose senior project topics ranged from Hip-Hop to reality TV to media's influence on anorexia.

The students came to Temple University once a week for 6 weeks and learned concepts of media literacy and representation, talked about the challenges of making a documentary with Madea Gboyah and Ted Lacey - last year's UCCP Senior Project stars (now freshmen at Temple), developed skills in video production, went to a documentary screening at University of Pennsylvania, and collectively planned, shot and edited their own short film called "Making of a Video Vixen" that ties together the media critiques of everyone in the group.

In addition to fulfilling the required 15 hours of senior project fieldwork, all of the participants said that the UCCP workshops were "really helpful and relevant" to their topics, and each student was able to take away something from the experience, whether "how to convert YouTube videos" or how to view advertisements and movies with a more critical eye. The workshops were facilitated by Natalia Smirnov, UCCP's Media Productions and Communications Coordinator with support of Fritz Lubin, UCCP Leaders Corps member.

For more information, contact Natalia Smirnov at nsmirnov@temple.edu.

Penrose Playground Gets a Makeover!

2009-04-30T14:00:00.000-04:00

The UCCP is proud to report that the 100 Hours of Power Service Marathon at Penrose Playground was an enormous success, thanks to the stellar coordination of City Year Greater Philadelphia, the fantastic support of Teens 4 Good, the overall infrastructure provided by Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education's Love2Serve Program and the tireless dedication of Mr. Eric Rudy from the Department of Recreation and Miss Ethel Cooper from the Penrose Advisory Council.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.....

The NEW Penrose Playground!

Some details from the mural:

Above: Liz Hanson, a UCCP intern, works with a child from
Penrose to paint a newspaper commemorating the historic voter
turnout in the 2008 presidential election. UCCP Leaders Corps members
Aaron Kennedy and Kianni Brooks trace a quote from Ghandi on the
Summer side of the Penrose Rec center.

For more for information, see the event coverage:

Temple Times:
UCCP paints Penrose in 100 Hours of Power

Temple News:
City Year brings ‘hours of power’ to campus

"Blurred Lines" Diversity Retreat

2009-04-09T14:48:00.000-04:00

photo: "Blurred Lines" facilitators, Sasha, Derek, Susanna, Sasha, Ameera and Chrissie

Susanna Bergin came to UCCP in Fall 2008, to do a practicum for her social justice education course at Bryn Mawr college. After completing her semester, she decided to stay with UCCP and create a Diversity Retreat as a final project for her college coursework. Planned in collaboration with Temple University students, Temple Youth VOICES Project participants and UCCP staff, "Blurred Lines" will happen Saturday, April 11th at Temple University and for 6.5 hours bring together 40 college and high school students to talk about how race, class, gender, sexuality, religion and ability affect us every day. Below is a description of the retreat and a short interview with Susanna about it.

BLURRED LINES
A Workshop on Cultural Identity

Why is a "nude" band-aid the color of white skin? Who can walk down the street holding their partner's hand? Why does legacy matter when you're applying to college? Why do girls always score lower on the SAT than boys? Share your story, work with students from Bryn Mawr college, Temple University, Community College of Philadelphia and Philadelphia High schools to talk about how race, class, gender, sexuality, religion and ability affect you every day.

Saturday, April 11th, 2009
10:30am to 5:00pm at Temple University

How did you come up with the idea for the retreat?

Susanna: A lot of it came about because of some things that happened in the VOICES classes, comments that participants would make or attitudes I was perceiving and being offended by. I found myself, as a queer white woman in an organization of primarily people of color in a position of both oppression and privilege. I was in a group that spends a lot of time talking about racial disadvantages advocating for my own disadvantages, and trying to figure out what that means.

What is your goal for the retreat participants?

Susanna: I want to do social justice education, so my goal is really to do that. I think before we can make a change, people need to begin by thinking and talking about the issues. So the goal is for everyone involved to think about it more.

What was your approach to selecting the different groups of participants for the retreat?

Susanna: I wanted to have people participating in the retreat to be coming from different experiences, so it's a combination of Bryn Mawr students, Temple and Community College of Philadelphia students and Philly high schoolers. I think just Bryn Mawr and Temple are so radically different, even stepping onto the campus is a whole other world. We're expecting about 40 people from those different groups, and representatives of all the groups will also be facilitating the activities.

For more information or requests to participate in the retreat, please contact Susanna at sbergin@brynmawr.edu

Teen Health Café Launches with Great Success!

2009-03-05T13:30:00.013-05:00

The Teen Health Café is a youth-led initiative that aims to provide a safe haven for teens to interact, learn and become active in their communities. Located at Penrose Recreation Center (12th & Susquahannah), the Café also seeks to become a hub for other organizations that wish to serve youth and the community. As such, the Café will feature numerous events designed to attract youth and other community members to the Penrose Playground.

The first event took place on Friday February 13th. It featured a workshop on healthy relationships, led by a guest speaker from Women Against Abuse. The youth prepared games and other fun activities designed to encourage youth to socialize in a safe, welcoming and informative environment.

In support of the National Girls AIDS Awareness Day the Teen Health Café is partnering with St Christopher’s Hospital to host a workshop on HIV prevention with special conversation sessions for girls and boys. The event will take place on March 10th, from 4:30 to 6:30 at Temple University, in the Women's Studies Lounge, 8th floor of Anderson Hall, 1114 W. Berks St. The next Teen Health Café is scheduled for March 20th at Penrose Playground, 12th and Susquahannah, at 4:30pm.

The Teen Health Café emerged from a series of conversations between the UCCP, Temple faculty, Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education and Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements. Under the guidance and mentoring of UCCP staff and Temple students, youth participants from these organizations have been meeting weekly to develop the Teen Health Café. As part of their planning process, they met with students from the Fox School of Business at Temple to gain a better understanding of business plans and sustainable business practices, visited farmers’ markets, spoke with the vendors, conducted research on other similar initiatives, and identified possible funding sources.

For more information, contact Catalina Gonzalez at catalina.gonzalez@temple.edu.

MLK Day of Service and Inaguration Celebration at Penrose Playground!

2009-01-16T13:07:00.005-05:00

On the morning of January 19th, we will be celebrating an exciting, ongoing partnership between Penrose Recreation Center and the UCCP, the Department of Recreation, the Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements, Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education and City Year of Greater Philadelphia. Supported by Temple University, the UCCP will coordinate Martin Luther King Day of Service at the Penrose Playground, organizing several work crews to clean, paint, sort books for a children's library and canvas the neighbhorhood with fliers about upcoming activities at Penrose.

In addition, we are thrilled to be supporting the Penrose Advisory Council's "Presidential Inauguration Celebration" on January 20th, which will feature a screening of the Inaguration Ceremony, a memorial to local residents that passed before the election and a presentation of the MLK 365 Calendar to engage volunteers in supporting the Rec Center all year round!

If you'd like to participate in one or both of the events, please share the fliers below and contact Johannah Bennett (former UCCP Leaders Corps member!) at johannah@temple.edu/215.487.9555 or
Catie Wolfgang at catiec@temple.edu/215.204.2007.

Happy Holidays from the UCCP!

2008-12-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the UCCP Leaders Corps! We present our first... holiday video:

VOICES Project Proposal Showcase, December 13, 2008

2008-12-16T16:07:00.007-05:00

Keeping in line with the VOICES mission to “build relationships with community partners, non-profit organizations and government agencies” to promote positive social change, the Fall 2008 VOICES participants held their first Project Proposal Showcase.

Here participants were able to state their issues, share their standpoints, present group arguments and discuss the changes they would like to see. They also presented the strategies they developed to address the issues, posed possible collaborations and solicited help from attendees to aid in the launching of their campaigns. After their presentations, the participants engaged the audience in a question and answer session and the audience provided written feedback for each group. Following the presentations there was a networking lunch for all to enjoy.

The projects highlighted this semester were: Youth Action 4 Peace and Youth and Media (2.0 projects which are initiatives being worked on by second and third year VOICES participants) and Sexual Health/Teen Pregnancy, Youth Violence, and Promotion of Positive Youth in the City (VOICES 1.0--first year project participants).

The audience was composed of family, friends, and specially invited guests, including Temple University Faculty/Staff, University of Pennsylvania Administrators, Directors of a Graphics Design Company, Philadelphia Public and Charter School Teachers and City Employees.

The Bridge to the Future: UCCP at the Youth Development Conference!

2008-12-12T12:57:00.004-05:00

On December 11, 2008 the UCCP once again had a strong showing at the United Way Youth Development Conference. Members of the Leaders Corps facilitated two widely attended workshops, one on Youth, Media and Identity and the other on Spoken Word as a powerful tool for youth voice. In addition, the UCCP staff was in constant conversation with youth and adults who stopped by The Temple Youth VOCIES Information Table and members of V-Media rounded out the day's activities by interviewing youth for 'Feelin' the Cuts' and capturing the Mayor's address to Philadlephia youth on film.

Feelin' The Cuts!

2008-12-02T15:33:00.004-05:00

V-Media (UCCP's media production and training crew) presents our new blog: Feelin' the Cuts.

The purpose of the blog is to:

1. Inform Philadelphians about the city's budget cuts and the impacts those cuts will have on everyday citizens.

2. Document, through video, the VOICES of Philadelphians as they react to the impact of the cuts on their communities and their lives.

V-Media, along with members of the Leaders Corps, will be attending many of the Mayor's upcoming Town Hall meetings. At those meetings, we hope to interview people who attend, to find out how the budget cuts are affecting them. We will post their interviews on the blog in hopes that this information will impact future decisions by the Mayor, as well as members of the city, state and federal government. We hope you will check our blog on a regular basis, and share it with your friends and colleagues.

After viewing the blog, please send us your feedback by making a comment directly on the blog, or sending an email to feelingthecuts@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,
V-Media (working in partnership with the UCCP's Leaders Corps)

VOICES 2.0

2008-12-02T15:08:00.006-05:00

UCCP and the Temple Youth VOICES Project often has had many young people stay involved in our programming over several years. Some have joined the Leaders Corps and are now instructors to new youth. For those, however, who are too young to become Leaders Corps members but want to continue developing their personal, professional and social change skills, this year we launched VOICES 2.0... The NEXT Level. At VOICES 2.0, youth have have gone through a year of VOICES 1.0 programs can take a project they began and turn it into a real CAMPAIGN, with measurable objectives, a strategic plan and grant applications!

So what are those youth up to?
Currently, we have two VOICES 2.0 Campaigns, both stemming from projects that have had re-occuring themes with VOICES participants:

How young people are portrayed in the media and what effects that has (Youth & Media)
Violence - it's causes, effects, and ways to prevent it. (Youth Action 4 Peace)

How are they taking it to the next level?

Youth & Media is currently visiting local media power players to learn more about decision making in the industry. On November 25, 2008, a group of Y&M youth and some representatives of V-Media (our own media production crew) visited the Daily News headquarters to sit in on the front page meeting and learn how editors choose the most important headline of the day.

Youth Action 4 Peace is building up from their successful carwash fundraiser in the summer to develop a traveling workshop encouraging young people to get involved in the programs available to them instead of turning to violence. In case you haven't seen it, check out this inspiring PSA created by POWER interns last spring, which started the conversation:

Stay tuned for more 2.0 Updates!

Art for Social Change - Gee's Bend!

2008-10-15T13:01:00.004-04:00

Based on the success of the Art for Social Change workshop series last year, UCCP is proud to work with the Philadelphia Museum of Art again to host a series of workshops for young adults around Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt exhibit.

The series will consist of three wednesday sessions starting on October 22, 2008 exploring storytelling, music, writing and quilting while creating a space to think and talk about positive social change in our communities.

Spaces are still available for interested youth. For more information, please contact Catalina Gonzalez at catalia.gonzalez@temple.edu.

UCCP Receives Award from Red Cross

2008-09-25T15:18:00.014-04:00

On September 25, 2008 The UCCP received the Red Cross’ Community Partners Award. The award was handed out at the Red Cross annual meeting and celebration of volunteers held at Drexel Hill. Catalina Gonzalez, the Assistant Director, along with the UCCP's Leaders Corp Bo, Malikka, Joi, Gary and Dominic worked with the Red Cross staff and their Youth Council on planning and implementing a Summer Camp on Disaster Preparedness.

First Person Documentary Screening

2008-09-25T10:41:00.004-04:00

On Thursday, September 25th, the UCCP welcomed over 150 people to a screening and discussion of FIRST PERSON, the award winning film directed by Ben Herold that documents the lives of six Philadelphia public high school students who aspire to attend college. Following the film, several members of the Leaders Corps joined Malikka Saeed, one of the six students featured in FIRST PERSON, and State Representative Curtis Thomas for a lively panel discussion of the factors that work against Philadelphia youth striving to realize their dreams of higher education. For more information on the film, please visit http://www.firstpersondocumentary.org.

Welcome, Advisory Board!

2008-09-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

On September 17th, the UCCP staff and Leaders Corps proudly hosted its first Advisory Board meeting. Taking a seat at the table are Kisha Bird, Director of Pennsylvania State Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN); Sharese Bullock, Strategic Partnerships & Marketing Manager at the Listen Up! Youth Media Network; Sonja Peterson-Lewis, Professor of African American Studies at Temple University; Tony Alvarez, Director of School and Community Relations at Marianna Bracetti Academy Charter School; Edurne Irizarry, Assistant Director at Youth United for Change; Sherri Culver, Associate Director of the Media Education Lab at Temple University; and Dominic Eason, UCCP Leaders Corps member and former participant. UCCP is thrilled and honored to have support from this dynamic group of members who bring fresh new perspectives, years of professional expertise and commitment to youth development. The board was developed and facilitated with the consulting help of Laura Otten from the Non Profit Center at LaSalle University.

Youth & Health

2008-09-16T14:16:00.001-04:00

For the last three months, the UCCP has been working with youth from Students Run Philly Style, Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center, Teens 4 Good (Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements) and the Temple Youth VOICES Project to create and develop a youth initiative to promote health among youth and their communities. The youth are interested in developing a Youth Health Café, which they hope can become a place where youth from around the city can come to learn, share knowledge and participate in activities and workshops, all in the context of a healthy and safe environment. The project has also involved several Temple professors form the departments of Kinesiology and the Business school, graduate students in Public Health and medicine, undergraduate students and alumni.

New Hires/ Staff Additions

2008-09-16T14:08:00.002-04:00

There are some familiar faces back at VOICES this year. The UCCP has expanded its staff with the additions of Ieshia Nelson, Program Coordinator; Alie Huxta, Internship Coordinator (VISTA); and Natalia Smirnov, Media Coordinator. These three ladies are all recent Temple University Alumni and were also members of the Leaders Corps during their undergraduate careers. They have quickly taken to their new positions and gotten to work. The VOICES 2008-2009 project and internship are set to start after significant recruiting efforts. Also check out the revamped ins and outs of the website: http://www.temple.edu/uccp.

Growing the P.O.W.E.R. Internship

2008-09-16T14:01:00.000-04:00

The Temple Youth VOICES Project believes that “You have the P.O.W.E.R."! Which is why we are excited about our VOICES P.O.W.E.R. internship, started last fall, where high school Juniors and Seniors learn how to Prepare, Organize, Write, Educate, and Reform (hence P.O.W.E.R) in the context of social change. Currently, with the terrific work of the new Internship Coordinator - Alie Huxta - we are able to offer the opportunity to more youth and schools in Philadelphia. So far we’ve done info sessions with YouthBuild Charter, New Media Technology Charter, and Science Leadership Academy, and had great interactions with youth excited about working with VOICES. Beginning on Oct 22, the youth will start by participating and organizing a Social Justice Leaders Panel, choosing an issue to focus on, doing a scavenger hunt at City Hall, and learning what individual and collective power they have as youth. Additionally, the P.O.W.E.R Internship will urge youth to be socially conscious of what is happening around them, politically, socially, and economically. With these leadership skills, a heightened social consciousness and new experiences with in the political/institutional landscape of Philadelphia, the VOICES P.O.W.E.R interns will begin their paths to re-shape their communities and use their voice to educate others about the injustice they see in their lives. For more information, contact Alie Huxta at alisonhuxta@yahoo.com.

Student Success Center Partnership

2008-08-06T15:00:00.001-04:00

The UCCP is proud to share news of an exciting new partnership with the Philadelphia Youth Network’s Student Success Centers (SCC). Over the summer, members of the Leaders Corps worked closely with rising 9th graders at SCCs in Overbrook, University City and Ben Franklin High Schools on a curriculum designed to provide young people with a solid introduction to film production. Across the three schools, the Leaders Corps engaged a total of 45 young people in a range of interactive activities that engaged them in writing, planning, shooting, editing and critiquing their work. All of the students’ mini-projects were compiled to produce a culminating DVD comprised of 20 short film exercises that students proudly screened at their closing celebration, held at Temple on August 6th.

Summer Academy 2008

2008-08-05T17:00:00.001-04:00

WHAT IS YOUR VICTORY? This was the question posed of the 2008 Temple Youth VOICES Summer Academy participants. Over 60 youth and young adults from across the city of Philadelphia spent six weeks challenging themselves and each other to work on achieving small every day victories, thus laying the groundwork for realizing larger, collective victories. Some of their victories included a lively blog discussion of media literacy and youth representation, a car wash that raised $500 to support a new ‘for youth, from youth’ scholarship program for Philadelphia high school students, numerous youth driven community workshops and special events, a magazine of youth writing on leadership development, and a premier of Buggin’ Out News, a youth-created satirical newscast showing how stereotypes are constructed in the media.

Wash Away Violence Carwash

2008-08-02T10:00:00.001-04:00

Youth Action 4 Peace, a youth led action team that is part of the Temple Youth VOICES Project, is seeking to create peaceful communities by providing youth with real opportunities to fulfill their dreams. They have embarked on a project to raise scholarship money for youth in Philadelphia. In their first foray, a car wash at Our Mother of Sorrows in West Philly, they raised $500 dollars.

The Peace Mix

2008-07-12T12:13:00.001-04:00

On July 12th, the Temple Youth VOICES Project participated at the Peace MIX - Hip Hop/ Poetry Slam event organized by the Youth Leadership Counsel of the SouthEast Philadelphia Collaborative. The event took place at the Tolentine Community Center in South Philadelphia and included free physical exams for youth, HIV rapid testing, face painting, spoken word, break dance workshops and anti-violence movie clips.

VOICES Invite Parents and Family to Get Involved

2008-07-08T12:04:00.005-04:00

On July 8th, the Temple Youth VOICES Summer program hosted a parent night. At the event, parents from youth involved in the program came to Temple University for a few hours of fun and conversation about social issues and their role in making positive social change.

Genisha Wallace and Bo Nicholson, two UCCP Leaders Corps members, organized the agenda. Youth participating in the summer program presented on the projects which are currently in progress among their groups. The groups include the Youth and Media Project, Youth Action 4 Peace and the Leadership Development Institute.

Youth and Violence Forum

2008-05-21T14:14:00.000-04:00

On May 21, the UCCP held the Youth and Violence Forum. At the event, youth from various organizations including the Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative, The Norris Square Neighborhood Project and the Temple Youth P.O.W.E.R Internship presented their anti violence initiatives. Jamira Burley, Business Major at Temple University, presented her Peace Core initiative and Hamid Floyd, a Telecommunications Major, also at Temple University, screened his video "What is Violence". Representatives from Motivos magazine, Change X magazine, the Philadelphia Fund for Children and Professors at Temple University also participated at the event.

Dwight Evans Civic Leadership Summit

2008-05-17T14:03:00.000-04:00

For the past two years, the UCCP has been collaborating with Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans' Office to support their annual Civic Leadership Summit (DECLS). This year's DECLS included teams from Martin Luther King, Imphotep and Parkway Northwest High Schools. The high school teams, with guidance and support from Temple students acting as collegiate advisors, developed public policy initiatives aimed at solving problems that affect their communities and schools. This year's summit, held May 16th and 17th at International House, showcased solutions to problems like suicide among African American youth and the need for effective recycling programs and improved environmental education.

Hip-Hop and the Community

2008-05-14T14:17:00.004-04:00

On May 14, UCCP hosted a film screening and discussion on Hip-Hop and the community, presented by three Philadelphia youth who focused on Hip-Hop as the topic of their high school senior projects. Ted Lacey and Madea Gboyah's documentary "Hip-Hop Effects" explores the effects of the negative messages of the genre through interviews with peers and adults. Tyrone Jones's "Lyrical Controversy" delves into the historical development of Hip-Hop music, addressing cultural and economic factors that influenced the genre's changing messages. Jones, a VOICES participant from Spring 2007 and Lacey and Gboyah, current VOICES P.O.W.E.R. Interns, used UCCP resources, including camera, editing equipment and post-production assistance to make their films. The screening was followed by a lively discussion and debate between youth, parents and community members in attendance.

Temple Youth VOICES First Annual Community Press Conference

2008-05-10T13:53:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, May 10th, the UCCP hosted the first annual Temple Youth VOICES Community Press Conference. The event featured a range of dynamic, multi-media presentations summarizing the accomplishments of Temple Youth VOICES participants over the past year. A diverse group of panelists, including a Temple Youth VOICES alumni, a representative from the Philadelphia Freedom Schools, a Philadelphia public school teacher and a member of the UCCP's Leaders Corps provided formal feedback on a wide range of youth driven initiatives presented at the Press Conference. Parents, family members, youth leaders, community organizers and members of the Temple University community who filled the audience were solicited to spread the word about the amazing work Temple Youth VOICES participants are doing to address the issues that impact them, their families and communities.

UCCP Has Strong Presence at Eastern Regional Conference on After-School

2008-05-08T14:24:00.001-04:00

Dominic Eason, a member of the Leaders Corps and Barbara Ferman, Executive Director of the UCCP, participated in a workshop on “Diversity in High School After School Programs” for practitioners and decision makers from Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The Workshop focused on various approaches to effectively engaging youth in out of school time activities while building their leadership capacities and academic competencies. Dominic Eason was also part of the plenary panel on “Youth and Youth Workers” offering his insights into the ingredients of quality after school programming. The annual conference was hosted by The After-School Institute (TASI). Held in Baltimore on May 8-9, the conference attracted close to 500 practitioners, decision makers, funders and youth participants from the Mid Atlantic region.

The American Red Cross - Disaster Preparedness Summer Camp

2008-05-04T14:10:00.003-04:00

The UCCP worked for over nine months with the American Red Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter, to develop a new youth leadership initiative. The product of this exciting project based collaboration was a week long summer camp focusing on disaster preparedness for youth ages 12 to 16. The “Save a Life Camp,” named by the Red Cross youth involved in the initiative, was not only planned by a dynamic team of young people, but was also coordinated and ran by them. The “Save a Life Camp” is a great example of how to work with youth and support their development to promote leaders within organizations.

For more information go to: >>http://redcross-philly.org/ProgramServices/YouthServices

A Proposal to Launch the Country's First Public Service Academy

2008-03-26T14:38:00.001-04:00

On March 26th, 2008, the UCCP, together with the Department of Political Science and the College of Liberal Arts, hosted a talk by Dr. Chris Myers Asch on his proposal to launch the country's first Public Service Academy. The Academy is a national initiative to build a civilian counterpart to the military service academies. The proposed Academy, which will offer four years of tuition free education in exchange for five years of civilian service following graduation, has the support of more than 110 members of Congress and has been highlighted by Time Magazine as one of the top ten ideas the next president should embrace to reinvigorate civic life. Over 40 Temple students, faculty, UCCP staff and VOICES internship participants attended the talk, raising some key questions about the nature of the proposed Academy, its recruitment strategy, its location, its ability to change public service and the like. Overall, it was a very lively and thought provoking discussion.

Art for Social Change - A Women's Series

2008-02-07T14:55:00.006-05:00

A touring exhibition devoted to the art of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from February 20 through May 18, 2008. Organized in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Kahlo's birth, it will present approximately fifty paintings from the beginning of her career in 1926 to the year of her death in 1954. The Frida Kahlo exhibition includes loans from over thirty private and institutional collections in the United States, Mexico, France, and Japan, several of which have never been on public view in the United States. Frida Kahlo is the first major presentation of the Mexican artist's works in the United States in nearly fifteen years.

Given the importance of this exhibit and fundamental role of art in society, the Temple Youth VOICES project was more than excited when the opportunity presented itself to collaborate with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in creating a group of young women to participate in art workshops and discussions about identity and the role of women in society.

This group will meet twice a week from January 15th through February 7th at Temple University. Art for Social Change - Women's Series will conclude on February 24th with a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exploration of the Frida Kahlo exhibit.The work produced by these young women in the context of our workshops will also be displayed at the museum and to make this project even more exciting, there is a proposal to create a mural which may include pieces of art created by them. The mural, which will be created by artist Cesar Viveros, will incorporate the ideas and concerns of these young women; in a perfect example of how art goes from the very personal -identity- to the very social -a mural in the city of Philadelphia.

Temple Youth VOICES Winter Showcase

2007-12-08T14:40:00.001-05:00

Temple Youth VOICES Project participants showcased their accomplishments over the fall semester at a recent event held in the Student Activities Center on Temple's Campus. Dynamic groups of young people engaged the audience in a range of interactive activities designed to foster dialogue around issues of importance to youth. They also introduced several project proposals for the spring semester. This year, VOICES participants are gearing up to tackle the following issues:

Making sex education in schools more interactive and responsive to young people's experiences, perspectives and concerns
Exploring the influence of drugs on families and communities
Investigating the impact of incarceration on families and communities

VOICES from the Experiment in International Living

2007-12-07T15:01:00.001-05:00

“My first venture outside of the country's border was fantastic,” says Saeed Briscoe of his summer in Chile. Saeed is one of four Temple Youth VOICES participants to earn a scholarship last summer from the Experiment in International Living (EIL). Over the past five years, through a strong and growing partnership with EIL, VOICES participants have traveled to Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, France and England. Rather than visit these countries as a tourist, the Experiment challenges young people to become part of the families and communities that host them, and provides opportunities for them to take part in a wide range of challenging activities, including community service, language instruction, outdoor education, and film and media arts production.

Although each of our scholarship winners has had a unique experience, they all come back with the same underlying message: Living in another country is life changing. Like her peers, Wyneisha Barrett was profoundly impacted by the weeks she spent in Spain this summer, “I've learned to live life to the fullest,” she reflects. “Whether it was in taking my first airplane flight, or speaking out to my group when I felt like something wasn't done properly, I've learned how to be more confident in myself, because what I have to say is important. I'm so grateful that I was chosen to travel abroad this summer. It truly helped me evolve as a person.”

Each year, 10th and 11th grade VOICES participants are eligible to apply for a scholarship with the Experiment in International Living. For more information about the program, see http://www.usexperiment.org or contact Tony Allen at 1-800-345-2929.

"Reporting From the Home Front: Families, Work and Money"

2007-11-12T14:45:00.003-05:00

On November 12th a delegation of young leaders from the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP) addressed an audience of prominent journalists at a conference entitled “Reporting from the Home Front: Families, Work and Money,” convened by the Journalism Center on Children and Families. Held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the conference provided an opportunity for selected print, broadcast and on-line journalists from across the Mid Atlantic region of the U.S. to sharpen their understanding of, and ability to report on, issues stemming from poverty.

Among the conference presenters from the UCCP were three Temple students, one Temple alum and two Community College students who are planning on coming to Temple. Using specific examples from their lives, these young adults spoke with great wisdom and clarity about the challenge of setting and achieving goals in the face of poor public housing, an inadequate public education system and the criminal justice system's failure to support policies and programs that reduce recidivism.

After a powerful round of opening statements, the group answered questions posed by the conference participants. It was an important opportunity for the young presenters to both elaborate on their experiences and back up their conclusions. The audience was so captivated that individual follow-up conversations continued well into the lunch break that followed the presentations.

“Going to the conference was a rewarding experience for me,” said Temple Junior, Genisha Wallace, a Criminal Justice Major from Brooklyn, New York. “In all my experience with public speaking engagements, I have never felt that my opinion was more respected and admired. Society regards the media as a source for news, ideas and public opinion. Therefore, I was honored to inform reporters about important aspects of my life. I felt like I was speaking for positive people in my generation everywhere. On that day, in that room, I was able to dispel many of the myths and stereotypes that shape stories about inner city youth.”

Sponsored by the Journalism Center on Children and Families:
>>http://www.journalismcenter.org/

Temple Youth VOICES Spring 2008 Showcase

2007-05-08T15:08:00.000-04:00

On May 8, 2007 VOICES participants culminated a year long exploration of education in Philadelphia schools with a presentation on their findings, opinions, suggestions, challenges and personal stories. A diverse audience comprised of VOICES youth, instructors, interns as well as families, friends and community members gathered in Tuttleman Hall on the Temple University campus for the event. The different youth comprised committees presented their material via PowerPoint slide shows, spoken word, poetry, audience quizzes and a documentary titled “Whose Tradition is it Anyway?” The presenters discussed such topics as the “No Child Left Behind Act”; the differences between traditional and non-traditional education techniques; the survey they conducted among ninety Philadelphia high school students and its results; the success, experiences and future plans for the Traveling Workshop which visited several local high schools over the winter and spring. A highlight of the event was the attendance of Mayoral candidate, Chaka Fattah, who was challenged to answer what, as Mayor, he would do to ensure that Philadelphia youth are more engaged, challenged and supported in their schools. The event culminated with a “Call to Action” and VOICES youth urged audience members to get involved in anyway possible with the education system in Philadelphia and with VOICES participants’ future work to create change in their schools.

"Investing in Urban Communities" Conference

2007-04-11T15:10:00.001-04:00

On April 11, 2007, The Fox School of Business at Temple University will host its Second Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference: “Investing in Urban Communities: Balancing Growth & Inclusion”. This conference, co-sponsored by the Business School's Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the University Community Collaborative and the College of Liberal Arts, will feature investors, developers, university representatives and community organizations discussing the challenges faced by community-oriented investors as they “go to scale,” broaden their capital base and so face potentially conflicting pressures between various stakeholders. Through panel discussions and break-out workshops, this conference will explore whether or not governance structures help mediate these tensions and whether or not these structures enhance the flows of financial and social capital for entities (banks, developers), projects and markets (commercial corridors, neighborhoods, cities). Specific examples might include: the challenges faced by community-based investors or developers as they “go to scale”; the challenges private developers face when they attempt to seriously consider community concerns; the potentials and the pitfalls of community-private, or community-public-private development partnerships. For more information or to RSVP, please contact: T. L. Hill at >>thill@temple.edu

Networking Dinner is a Success!

2006-11-06T15:12:00.001-05:00

On Thursday, November 6, 2006, the Temple Youth VOICES Project hosted a Networking Dinner. Planned and facilitated by the Leaders Corps, the aim of the dinner was to start an ongoing dialogue between groups dedicated to youth empowerment. VOICES’ long term objective is to motivate the creation of a citywide coalition among organizations committed to youth-driven social change and community uplift. During the dinner, representatives from 16 different organizations shared their missions and long-term goals, as well as their ongoing initiatives. There was a synergistic spirit of service learning and grass roots activism that connected individuals and groups together as everyone mingled and made plans to meet again in January. Youth and adults alike expressed excitement and passion for the limitless possibilities that a collaboration of this nature promises. To read more about this event, please visit the Newsletter Archive on our website and download a copy of the Winter 2007 newsletter. To find out when the next networking dinner is scheduled or to get involved, please contact Catie Cavanaugh at >>catiec@temple.edu.

Youth Shine at the Dwight Evans Civil Leadership Summit!

2006-10-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

On October 27 and 28, 2006 the second annual Dwight Evans Civic Leadership Summit (DECLS) was help at the National Constitution Center. The summit, sponsored by State Representative, Dwight Evans, exists to empower youth with the knowledge and tools to become critically engaged while improving the quality of life in their communities. This year’s summit connected 11 students from five Philadelphia high schools through workshops aimed at leadership development, interaction with civic leaders, and the introduction and completion of “Project Citizen” a curriculum which provides students with opportunities to focus on the impact of state and local government policy on their neighborhoods and communities. During the summit, participants were given the chance to interact with various civic leaders as well as express themselves in a Town Hall discussion which focused on “bearing witness”. The high point of the summit came when students presented their work in teams to an audience of over 100 people, including a panel of three judges who later engaged the presenters in a questions and answer session. To read more about the Dwight Evans Summit and the impact the event had on the Philadelphia youth who attended, please visit the Newsletter Archive and download a copy of the Winter 2007 newsletter.