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.