Project Description

A weekend dedicated to mentoring young girls (12 -15 year olds) to teach skills of confidence building, team cooperation,cultural awareness, female empowerment, and positive reflection of self through educational and social activities with young females. Each day will have its own theme. Objectives: By the end of this program, participants will have an increased awareness: of self as it relates to sisterhood among females. of their culture and others and appreciation for those similarities and celebrate the differences Estimated time of the Program: Two day program: Day 1 = 3 hours and Day 2 = 5hours Audience: Adolescent girls (ages 12-15) in the Big Brother & Big Sister program of North Central West Virginia Procedure: Contact your local Motivation Speaker, in local College or University: Department of Women’s Studies; Department of Social Work, Psychology, and/or Marriage, Family and Child Counseling Departments or members of Tau Iota Zeta. To find out where you might secure a speaker. Set date of program: August 28-29th 2008 (Last weekend of August) Goal for attendance: 15 youth (max) Contact eligible speakers to secure availability (date and time). Confirm the agreed upon date & time with the speaker & chapter. It is always good to send the speaker a letter to follow-up your verbal agreement. Find out if they will need any equipment to make the presentation. Ask for a 30 minute presentation which will include interactive input from youth (i.e., active youth participation incorporated in presentation). It will usually end up being 45 minutes maximum, which will allow time for attendees to ask questions. Assign some one to contact the speaker on the day before the program to remind him/her of the program and provide directions to site if necessary. Begin your public announcements about the program. Send to newspapers, radio and television stations, churches, encourage chapter member to place them in restrooms at work, community women’s groups and college women. Have a committee member arrive at the site early to greet early arrivals. Have copies of the evaluation form available for each attendee and provide pens and pencils just in case they did not bring one. Assign a committee member to collect the evaluations as persons leave. Assign a committee member(s) to summarize the evaluation within 2 weeks after the program. Make a report to the chapter at the next meeting. Make the summary report to the Regional person. Celebrate your success! Safety Considerations: Be sure attendees understand that any ‘Sign in List’ is only for the purpose of documenting attendance and will not be provided to outside persons. Materials Needed: A qualified, knowledgeable speaker Big Sister Weekend Day 1 Agenda: Look Inside Yourself Day (Confidence building/Self-esteem day) Introduction/welcome Motivational Speaker on Self-esteem "I Hate Me" Activity( Use of Negative words towards females) Open discussion about negative words, statements or phrases used toward females by females and/or others. How does talking bad about other females connect to talking about yourself? Role play activity-Provide confidence testing questions from various perspectives Girls make a collage of the woman they see themselves as, or aspire to be. Use old magazines and pictures to make a 8"x11" picture collage Discuss collages (i.e. body image and aspirations) and why anything you put your mind to is possible. “If you can believe, you will achieve!” Compare and contrast current self image vs. collage image Love Myself Activity-Mirror Chant and hugging exercise Conclude Day 2 Agenda: Cultural Awareness Female Empowerment Welcome “What is culture to you?” – Interactive Cultural Awareness Presentations Big Sisters present to mentees a reflection of their own personal heritage Mentees present to each other and mentors their own reflections Visual presentation: mentees learn from confident, goal oriented women from different backgrounds, and environments Mentors and mentees reflect on various differences in cultures Reflect on how cultural differences may shape confidence and aspirations Cultural Potluck Food representing different cultures Role Model Talk What do you want to be? Who do you look up to? How many positive role models do you have? Professional women come and speak about their experience and professions (business, health, social services, law, athletics, performing arts, fine arts etc.) Presenters will be members of Tau Iota Zeta and other professional in the area (i.e., WVU professors and/ or administrators, community leaders, women in other local organizations) Wrap-up Session Sisterhood Portrait Activity Distribution of Certificate for participation Conclusion/ Farwell (evaluations) Activity Breakdown Overview As women, we are sisters...Despite our ethnic, cultural, and demographic makeup... We have commonalities, ideals, experiences, thoughts and opinions that are different and some that are the same. This activity is designed to get "sisters" to talk to each other and bond with one another. This activity transcends age, education and socio-economic barriers that tend to keep "sisters" from relating to one another. Suggested Activity: Sisterhood Portrait Divide the participants into groups of 3 to 5 members. (Have each participant count off followed by "1's here, 2's here" etc. Each group will have one large sheet of paper and draw body outline, using markers or crayons, a ruler and a glue stick. The members of the group will incorporate characteristics of members to fill in the body outline. Each group need to choose a recorder to jot down the groups responses inside the outline to the following: Favorite Food(s), Hobbies, Favorite Place to Visit or want to visit one day, and other commonalities that members in the group have. The recorder should draw a "box" on the outside edge of the large piece of paper and jot the responses down for each aforementioned category. Leave a large space in the middle of the sheet. Participants will use the glue stick and affix their "faces" (Polaroid picture) in the middle of the sheet. The group needs to come up with a group name. One person will serve as a Reporter and share their group's responses with the entire group. (Each group will need a reporter.) Materials Needed: Willing, Receptive members of the sorority Construction Paper, freezer paper Markers, Crayons or Colored Pencils Glue Sticks Rulers Overall Materials Needed: Plates, Cups, Table Cloths, scissors, construction paper, glue, videos, unlined paper, pencils, pens, makers, name-tags, magazines, 10 gallon water cooler, Computer, TV, DVD/VHS player, certificates of participation, beverages (i.e. water, Gatorade mix, minute maid 100% juice boxes)

Project Description

I want to have a touring arts troupe going orphanage to orphanage promoting music, painting, drawing, poetry, and playwriting. Sort of like the Grateful Dead and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Ken Keasey Bus, Andy Warhol's Plastic Factory and the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Counter-culture, political and environmental awareness through artistic expression is my goal. And because orphanages need attention as far as education and because I believe the youth of the world have the potential to unite and stand up against the false materialistic value that society holds and DO SOMETHING. Arts and Culture are certainly not valued enough in our society, and if kids were only paid a little attention and enthusiasm then I believe there can be an explosion of literature, drama, visual arts, and music. Being a democracy, the USA needs desperately to create discussion and flow of ideas, due to the stagnant monopolizations of the media empire. As John Lennon once said: "Power to the People." Also I cannot forget to mention the Oregon Country Fair (http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/) and specifically their 'Culture Jam' (http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/culture_jam.php) as they are my model for which I want to operate this project and hopefully I can get their assistance.

My tentative schedule is as follows
1) Art materials, paper and pencils are handed out and each child picks what they want to do: poem, short story, drawing, and painting. Additionally, each child will write a few lines as if they were for a movie script.
2) 1-3 bands that I know personally perform consecutively with multimedia aspects while children 'do art'
3) During this event, a sort of 'panel' begins to take submissions from the 'audience' and handpicks what they deem as innovative, creative, insightful, meaningful, original, or otherwise valuable.
4) After bands are done performing, then all the 'script lines' are collected and performed together by several people of the 'troupe' in improv. This provides a direct response or face value of what the children themselves produced, so they feel like what they created actually is heard.
5) Finally, the children are rewarded by their artistic achievements with various CD's of handpicked music, books, zines, toys, collection of poems, paintings, drawings, clothing, etc. These prizes will be mostly in the vein of artwork from places like Reading Frenzy (http://www.readingfrenzy.com/) and Grass Hut (http://www.grasshutcorp.blogspot.com/). The CD's, literature, and poems will alternatively be cheap reproductions of great artistic creations (ex: Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Animal Farm, Velvet Underground, Nick Drake, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young).

Project Description

We are an informal organization with a mission to endeavor in multi-cultural events promoting Indonesian arts and language amongst our members, and the general Delaware public. We are a diverse non-racial and non-religious club, open to any individuals who would like to have fun and gain a richer understanding of our culture. So come and join us! We are currently looking for volunteers to help us on our upcoming show in August. We are in need of young energetic people who would like to learn new things, make new friends, perform or just help us set-up the stage. It's a fun summer project.

Project Description

This program gives children at the Boys and Girls Club an opportunity to learn about ballet and the cultural aspects associated with it. Most of these children have parents who work and thus are unable to immerse themselves culturally. Kids of all ages can come and take a ballet class from 3:30 to 4:30 every Tuesday. Most weeks, there is a classical ballet class that begins with stretching and ends with a creative portion. Kids are able to express themselves while being physically active. Some weeks, there is a cultural session where they are taught about a certain ballet production and then read a story book illustrating the production. (e.g. The Nutcracker). Also, the kids learn miming from each story ballet, which gives them great acting skills.

Project Description

The Culture project is an idea created by a student currently attending La Salle Academy Boys High School in the East Village. The mission of the Culture Project is to help high school students currently attending La Salle and other sister schools in New York City become more culturally exposed to the performing and visual arts. The initiative is a student-run program enacted with the guidance of educators of the art and drama programs at each school. This program is directed towards the advancement of the arts for students who have not had the opportunity to do this through their educational institution, or because of the cost associated with exploring such venues.
The Culture Project will help to bridge this cultural gap through making these excursions more affordable or free to those students who are interested. The vision the creators and researchers of the project foresee for The Culture Project is to have students attend live theatrical performances, visit museums and art galleries, and other venues related to the main concentrations of the arts, namely, theater, art, and music. The initiative also strives to bring to life another dimension of our great contemporary cultural society, as it is often overlooked in our popular culture, particularly among teenagers.
Through supportive guidance by the administration and faculty of each school, students will have a full scope of educational, culturally-based learning both in and out of the classroom. We intend to achieve our directives through working closely with established cultural organizations throughout the city, and appeals to the greater corporate community for potential sponsors. At the end of the 2007/ 2008 school year, The Culture Project will release a compendium of reflections and reviews written exclusively by the students of each school. This is to be complemented by artistic works expressed by the students of each school, which will be combined to produce a product that will be distributed for all to see and read.

Project Description

The Nwagni Project is a student-run organization at Albion College in Albion, MI that has spent the last two academic years raising funds to build an elementary school and supply basic school necessities in Batchingou, Cameroon. This project started from a first-year class that travels to Cameroon every year with a professor who was raised in Batchingou. The trip to this village has left such an impact on some of these students that they have dedicated a lot of their time to raising funds to help them build a school. Together we have raised just over $11,000 in funds to go towards the building of the school by holding African themed dinners, spaghetti dinners sponsored by a local restaurant, films and other event that not only raise funds for the school, but also raises awareness about global poverty, African culture and the effort for equal access to education throughout the world.

Our goals now are to get a group of our members to travel there in January of 2008 to help build the school and build a relationship with the village for further building and assistance. Some of our members, such as myself can not afford such a trip and we are looking for sponsors or grants to help support our travel expenses which are expected to be around $2,500 to $2,800 for flight and accomodations. Hopefully through dosomething.org we can gain financial assistance to support our service on the other side of the world! We are a recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization through Albion College with the tax-identification number 38-1359081. For further information please check out our website at: http://people05.albion.edu/anh10/dp/nwagni_project.htm

Project Description

SPEAK BREAK THE SILENCE was a Global Awareness Education Campaign that occurred over a 6-week period at my high school, St. Mary Academy Bay View in Riverside, RI in April of 2006. Each week was themed and comprised of facts and figures. Week one introduced the pandemic and challenged the Bay View community to SEE the reality of HIV/AIDS around the world. Week two introduced AIDS among women and challenged the young women of Bay View to educate themselves and BE women of empowerment. Week three challenged the Bay View community to HEAR the voices of Youth with HIV and welcomed the elementary and middle school’s help. Week four discussed AIDS on the home front, here in America, and challenged us all to UNITE together in prevention. Week five explained the search for a cure for AIDS and challenged Bay View to EMBRACE the opportunity to learn. Through an informational evening assembly, friends and family of the Bay View community were included in the campaign and its efforts. I am the inspiration of the “SPEAK . . . Break the Silence” global HIV/AIDS awareness education campaign at St. Mary Academy Bay View. The campaign served as my high school's 2006 Lenten Project. I headed all of the committees, held all of the meetings, and served as the link between the administration/staff/faculty and the student body. I wrote letters, invitations, and speeches pertaining to the campaign and ultimately organized the six week project. I wrote the script for the evening presentation of the campaign except for the explanation of funding; which the senior class treasurer wrote. Because however, the campaign was introduced to my school as a “senior class project”, the senior class officers and delegates, members of the Mercy Action club, Peer Ministers, and students of the Advanced Placement Calculus class, all helped with the project. I assigned them tasks, had them research, and publicize the campaign. I believe HIV/AIDS to be an incredibly important issue that young people today must address. As a young woman, I am among the highest percentage of people who contract the virus. HIV/AIDS is a global epidemic that is taking too many lives too rapidly. Sadly, it is cultivating in our very own back yard; the United States of America. I believe that by merely educating young people of HIV/AIDS, a serious wave of prevention can occur. Education is empowerment and, empowerment is prevention.

Project Description

A Taste of China will be held at the Oklahoma History Museum in cooperation with the Asia Festival on May 19th. It will play host to a variety of projects dealing with China. Casady School students are organizing the event. Sophomore John Vincent is a transfer student from China. He will be teaching Chinese calligraphy using t-shirts. He will need a supply of brushes, ink, and t-shirts. Freshman Sarah Cox went on an Orchestra trip to China over spring break. She will be hosting a DVD she made about her trip to China and showing souvenirs from her trip. Middle schooler Christopher Moore is the son of the director of the orchestra. He made a PowerPoint presentation over China to show at school; he will be showing that presentation at the Festival. Senior Jun Woo Park is a transfer student from Korea; he also went to China. He will be doing Martial Arts demonstrations with me. My name is Justin Ou, and I am a senior who is of Chinese and Cambodian descent. I am putting the whole project together. Our school will be providing some resources for the presentations, but we need some monetary help for the cost of supplies that include brushes, ink, t-shirts, mats, teacups, and other souvenirs to give away.