National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence
NYAM New City/New School Project for Gun Violence Prevention
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Donate NowA Community of Practice Curriculum for Youth ProSocial Leadership Development and Gun Violence Prevention
A Gun Violence Prevention Curriculum for High School Students
United States
- $1,069 raised of $55,000 goal
- 10 donations
- -3368144 minutes left
Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas
A Shared Call-to-Action
The National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence is currently raising money to develop and implement a nationwide high school curriculum for gun violence prevention and personal leadership that is meant to be a counterbalance to the widespread anxiety and depression evoked within our youth by increasing acts of violence in our public spaces and the reality of active shooter drills in schools. Critically, this curriculum is meant to develop within each participant and within each school a strong foundation for catalyzing prosocial behaviors among youth that expands their capacity for building relationships, engenders a creative orientation for addressing life’s obstacles, and demonstrates in hands-on activities how to address mental and emotional strain constructively by applying our passions or feelings of disillusionment to creative endeavors and civic and community engagement.
All of us feel completely misunderstood at some point in life, but I think especially in our youth, when everything feels new and unexpected and we have such big dreams for ourselves, but no real understanding of how to reconcile our ideals with reality or how to parse fact from fiction. For these reasons, educational influences like Mister Rogers Neighborhood, is critical in the lives of young people. His show provided a guide for living and a friendly atmosphere for learning. The National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence wants to do the very same for young people today who face a challenge greater than any most of us faced at their age — an epidemic of bullying and hatred that is erupting into displays of everyday violence, mass shootings, and suicides that disproportionately impact people below the age of 30.
All of us feel completely misunderstood at some point in life, but I think especially in our youth, when everything feels new and unexpected and we have such big dreams for ourselves, but no real understanding of how to reconcile our ideals with reality or how to parse fact from fiction. For these reasons, educational influences like Mister Rogers Neighborhood, is critical in the lives of young people. His show provided a guide for living and a friendly atmosphere for learning. The National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence wants to do the very same for young people today who face a challenge greater than any most of us faced at their age — an epidemic of bullying and hatred that is erupting into displays of everyday violence, mass shootings, and suicides that disproportionately impact people below the age of 30.
An Overview: National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence (NYAM)
Over the last three years, the National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence has worked with young people between the ages of 13 and 28 to create artwork that illustrates the multi-layered ways that gun violence impacts their lives. Through educational workshops focused on activism and art creation, these youth have developed leadership skills and produced original artwork for the purpose of personal and national transformation.
Here are a few of our accomplishments with young people to date:
- A citywide tour of art in Chicago with interactive educational messaging addressing on commercial billboards themes including the growing number of lives lost to gun violence, racism in gun violence, and the impact on the family structure.
- An outdoor showcase of artwork and a peer-to-peer presentation with youth from across the U.S. at the international Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Minneapolis, MN.
- An interactive exhibit at the Human Factors in Computing Conference in Montreal, Canada, Art, Human Computer Interaction, and Shared Experiences: A Gun Violence Prevention Intervention,” which memorialized and honored the lives of specific youth lost to gun violence.
- A digital postcard campaign to support the passing of Illinois State Bill 337 for combatting illegal gun trafficking.
- A national distribution of protest posters for the March for Our Lives.
Utilizing the expertise of a network of teachers, education leaders, schools, creative arts therapists, activists and politicians that helped achieve the above, the National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence’s new goal is to complete, pilot, and implement its expanded and customized curriculum in a format to be used in high schools nationwide starting in 2020.
What is a Community of Practice?
"Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope. In a nutshell:
Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.
Anthropologist Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger coined the term "Communities of Practice" while studying apprenticeship as a learning model."
Learn more about the theoretical underpinnings of Communities of Practice and their practical application at https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
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Project Leadership
Dr. Janice T. Samuels is the Executive Director of the National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence.
Dr. Samuels is an educational technology leader, writer, and activist whose mission is to “help others know themselves, own their power, and live full and glorious lives that produce that best of what we are as humans, dreamers, and believers.” Throughout her career she has translated this mission into innovative programs and learning solutions that engage and empower students, faculty, peers, and the community to facilitate change.
Dr. Samuels also holds a Master of Arts in Management with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Regent University and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Rollins College.
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More info about the project: https://www.nationalyouthartmovement.org/
More info about Fractured Atlas: https://www.fracturedatlas.org/what-we-do
More info about Dr. Samuels: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janicetishasamuels/
More info about Dr. Samuels: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janicetishasamuels/
Rewards
GOLD GIVING LEVEL: Good Guys with ProSocial Skills = Less Bad Guys
Donate $100.00 or more
Amount over $20.00 is tax-deductible.
Your $100 donation will go directly to providing an individual teacher with a robust curriculum AND a support staff of teacher mentors, expressive arts therapists, education leaders and gun violence prevention advocates.
In appreciation of your gift, you will receive the following SWAG:
- National Youth Art Movement Sticker
- Original Artworks of the National Youth Art Movement
- Postcard Activism (3)
- Poster (1)
With just 500+ donations between $100 or more, we can reach our goal to create a curriculum for high school students and provide it for free with staffing support to teachers and schools across the country - -- starting with one school per US region.
0 / 550 claimed
SILVER GIVING LEVEL: We Are Our Brother's Keeper
Donate $35.00 or more
Amount over $12.00 is tax-deductible.
Your $35 donation will go directly to providing an individual student with an opportunity to learn the personal leadership skills it takes to:
- Build compassionate community with each other in our schools
- Address mental and emotional strain constructively
- Grow beyond the fear/anxiety of active shooter drills
- Apply passions or feelings of disillusionment to creative endeavors and civic and community engagement.
In appreciation of your gift, you will receive the following SWAG:
- National Youth Art Movement Sticker
- Original Artwork of the National Youth Art Movement
- Postcard Activism (3)
With just 1000+ donations between $35 and $50, we can reach our goal to create a curriculum for high school students and provide it for free with staffing support to teachers and schools across the country -- starting with one school per US region.
1 / 1.5K claimed
PLATINUM GIVING LEVEL: Change -- When Do We Want it? NOW!
Donate $1,000.00 or more
Amount over $60.00 is tax-deductible.
Your $1000 donation will go directly to providing a school with a support staff of teacher mentors, expressive arts therapists, education leaders and gun violence prevention advocates. As well as, an event team for developing and executing a youth-led Listening Party for Family & Friends to conclude the curriculum experience.
In appreciation of your gift, you will receive the following SWAG:
- National Youth Art Movement Sticker
- Original Artworks of the National Youth Art Movement
- Postcard Activism (3)
- Poster (1)
- Baseball Cap (1)
With just 50+ donations of $1000, we can reach our goal to create a curriculum for high school students and provide it for free with staffing support to teachers and schools across the country - -- starting with one school per US region.
0 / 55 claimed