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.