18 new Youth Have the POWER (internship)!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

“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

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!

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

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..."

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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