Zebra Kids Learning and Arts Center:
“Investing in our youth for the future of our generations”
Programs:
Zebra Kids, Inc is requesting a grant to strengthen the capacity of our organization by funding the anticipated three-year planning, development, implementation, start-up and expansion period for our new kids learning and arts center. Our learning and arts center is successfully teaching education, artistic dancing and various drumming techniques to students from low-income communities. Our programs are design to attract individuals and families from various backgrounds and to help promote an economically revitalizing area, and continue to stabilize and rebuild the economic base of our communities and city.
Our current organizational structure does not include the requisite separate facility to manage the programs we would like to prescribe to the City of Baltimore. In order to be well qualified to enter into these different educational fields it is vital we obtain the appropriate funding to be able to take on many of our projects. We will create a program structured to develop middle-school aged and high-school aged children to excel academically through a tailored expansive educational and community based curriculum. With the appropriate funding and financial stability we could begin implementing these programs and contracting our after school programs with local city schools in the community area we already serve.
I. Health is Wealth Program (HWP)
American minorities have higher rates of death and disability from many causes; such increased morbidity and mortality rates may be secondary to a complex mix of genetic, environmental and behavioral factors. Disparity in health care is driven by factors such as socioeconomic status, education, cultural and ethnic differences. The Health is Wealth program is a once monthly forum held at the center, whereby, a featured guest speaker will address various health topics. The goal of the program is to have participants become more involved as informed consumers of healthcare and to introduce them to the importance of prevention. Topics of discussion will include urban asthma, childhood obesity, nutrition, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and its complications, stress and anger management, advance directives, polysubstance abuse, and guide to health and wellness.
These workshops are open to the public at no cost. Faculty will consist of resources in the healthcare field such as physicians and allied healthcare workers dedicated to service in their communities. Material presented will be in laymen’s terms for better audience comprehension. The program will coincide with the Healthy People 2010 initiative of the CDC. Participants will be educated with regards to approach to health and wellness in terms of asking informed questions, knowing their patient’s rights, choosing a health advocate and learning to be more involved in decisions regarding their health care. Health and wellness profiles will be created to outline goals and behavioral modifications. Adequate healthcare should not be a chance occurrence, or reserved for the privileged; it is a requirement of our society, but as consumers of health care we need to do our part through education and participation.
II. The Homework Place Program (HPP)
Nothing inspires a child more than having the skills to succeed on his or her own merits. The Homework Place is a tutoring/ enrichment program designed to aid children in discovering their full potential. The goal of the Homework Place is to have students demonstrate proficiency in the basics of math and reading, while using homework as a framework to reinforce lesson plans from school. Once students have mastered the basics, there will be educational programs available in reading and math through our computer lab. The Homework Place would utilize educational materials from various tutoring franchises to encourage independent learning. The center will provide educational support to the community at no cost. Children would come in for a two-hour time frame to review homework or do computer-based assignments to improve math and/or reading competency. Tutors are available to review work and provide cues for learning. Students are also coached with regards to test taking strategies; this teaches the student good study habits in terms of preparation and organization. Students learn to be self-disciplined, ultimately learning to be responsible for their education; but more importantly, their destiny.
The center will also provide monthly workshops teaching conflict resolution by using the RCCP (Resolving Conflicts Creatively Program) model. This is an innovative program that has been in existence since 1985. It teaches that aggression is a learned behavior and through various exercises instructs the student with regards to more creative responses to conflict, without being passive. The curriculum consists of 51 workshops, whereby; the teacher acts as a facilitator using techniques such as brainstorming, role-playing, group dialogue and other experimental approaches. Staff at the Homework Place will be required to receive formal RCCP training to be able to provide this unique program to our participants. Parent training will also be available because we recognize that for these skills to be reinforced there must be family support.
There will be a language lab available to students using the Rosetta Stone software program to teach Latin, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese. Latin will be used to help students build their vocabulary, as it is the precursor of several languages and was the official language of science and scholarship in the 16th century. Geography will be highlighted as well using the “Where is Carmen San Diego” educational software, which teaches geography, history and trivia.
The center is committed to parents of home-schoolers. Home-schoolers are invited to use our facility and programs as additional resources for learning. We would use the Homework Place as a center to offer tuition based courses to home-schoolers. Also provide an avenue of using some of the home-schooling methods to help students that are enrolled in public schools. The village we are creating is one of positive self-esteem, positive self-wealth. We foster an environment which establishes the child’s self-esteem as opposed to an esteem created by their peers. We strive to produce self-confident, independent-critical thinkers. Fostering this positive behavior will allow children the tools to make sometimes critical decisions about their behavior they may be faced with in their everyday life. The Homework Place is more than a place to do homework; it is a haven designed to help the student develop beyond their educational dreams.
III. Presidents in Training Law Program (PTLP)
This law program is design to teach students from ages 13-18. The program will focus on educating economically disadvantaged communities and at-risk youth about the fundamentals of our justice system and governmental structure. Our program would be geared to high-risk youth in middle school and high school local alternative/continuation middle/high schools. Youth who attend these high schools do so as a result of expulsion, poor academic performance, or behavioral issues in mainstream school settings. Most of the youth are disengaged in education, on probation, and/or have extensive school disciplinary records; we plan to teach principles of integrity, leadership, perseverance, discipline and scholarship. It will focus on teaching the consequences of crime and encourage youth to study law. The law program will help participants realize that decisions they make as young adults may follow them for the rest of their lives. Research shows that children exposed to legal education at earlier ages are less likely to break the law and we hope to show them, that when young adults know the law, they strive to make better choices.
Our law training courses will be designed to encourage children to pursue careers in the administrative side of law and not just in law enforcement. We will offer a 13 week course on different topics ranging from the impact of being a juvenile offender for first time-offenders, to why our youth are incarcerated. It is important to realize that as minorities pursue careers in the justice system, it provides us with a voice. These classes will range from 15-20 youth, generally meeting after school once a week from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Studies indicate that these hours are when this population is most likely to engage in criminal behavior. The program includes a field trip to University of Maryland Law School at Baltimore City and Howard University Law School in Washington D.C, Library of Congress and US Supreme Court. The youth will get a tour of the college campuses and conduct mock trials. Upon completion of the program, we would like to sponsor a graduation ceremony for the participants and their families.
Responding to this need identifies how we can stop crime and violence perpetuated by young adults before it starts. Our law courses would engage children in logic, reasoning and alternative resolution. We will have our own law club as a part of this program, and in the process, visit the schools of the participants. Participants will be expected to explain the legal consequences of crime and our legal structure to their fellow students and give them advice on how peer pressure, drugs and gang violence lead to confrontation with the law. It is our hope that the legal education we provide and invest in our youth will allow them to pursue careers in the judicial, legislative or executive branches of our government.
Cultural Exchange Program (CEP)
The Cultural Exchange Program is designed to expose participants to various ethnic art forms and cultures. It is the goal of this program to teach us that we are all a part of something greater. By appreciating our creative contributions we build a global community of artists. This global community through their art forms, remind us of our humanity. It begins by introducing participants to the music and dance of Ivory Coast using songs, movement, and drumming from the We tribe. The program provides authentic African dance and drumming classes for the community. Videos depicting ceremonial dances and traditions will also be available. The program will sponsor various artists about 4-6 times a year to hold workshops at the center. It will include exposure to the dramatic arts, creative writing, poetry, dance, and improvisation. Ethnic artists will be invited to teach their art form to the community. The objective is to expose the participants to that particular art form to broaden their perspective and their experience. History and culture demonstrated through performance and visual arts, allows one to embrace it in a nonjudgmental way. The program will culminate in a trip to an exotic location once every one to two years to embrace the creative culture of that particular local. Cultural exchange not exclusion will allow us a framework of understanding and acceptance.
The program will focus on teaching participants the rich history of various African countries. Exposure to cities heavily populated with minorities will also be toured. There will be educational seminars on various historical facts regarding these states as well as the history of various African countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Liberia. We will travel to the Reginald Lewis African American Museum, and Famous Blacks Wax Museum in Baltimore, MD. Tours that showcase ethnic venues in New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Detroit will be highlighted. It is important to educate participants with regards to our ancestral African history, contrasting it to our African American history. By understanding and embracing our history it gives us self-confidence and pride. More importantly, it allows us to embrace our identity. How can we embrace who we are if we do not know our history? The cultural exchange program allows us to embrace our culture while welcoming other cultures.
