2011 Experiment in International Living Recepients!

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

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

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"

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

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"

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."