Happy Holidays from the UCCP!

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

VOICES Project Proposal Showcase, December 13, 2008

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!

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!

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

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:

1. How young people are portrayed in the media and what effects that has (Youth & Media)
   
2. 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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.