Sadie Nash Sisterhood Academy and Leadership Scholars applications. Due: September 30, 2013

Below is information about the Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP), a successful educational and leadership program for young women in New York City public high schools. We believe that every young woman is a leader and offer programs and classes to further develop that leadership.

We are excited to share an exciting upcoming opportunity for students for Fall 2013: Leadership Institute, a year-long, after-school program for high school aged young women. Classes will incorporate both community building and intensive leadership development as well as integrate college awareness, health and self-care, and increased communication skills.   Participants will receive an end-of-year stipend based on their participation and attendance in the group, and are eligible to receive school credit for Sisterhood Academy. We are focused on the intellectual and personal development of young women, but our programming also provides greatly needed networking opportunities, boosts college applications and provides young women with a safe, enriching, and creative after-school experience. Young women can choose between two tracks:

Sisterhood Academy! This class will focus on identity, leadership development, career and life options, healthy relationships, mental, physical, and emotional wellness, and creative self-expression.  Using their own lives and experiences as a starting point, young women will examine their identities, explore their families and communities, and critically discuss issues facing young women. They will also build practical skills and knowledge on issues such as health, financial literacy, college awareness, stress management, job readiness. Through a variety of creative means (spoken word, art, and creative writing), they will also work to express their thoughts and disseminate their knowledge to their peers. Sisterhood Academy will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 – 6:00pm in midtown Manhattan near Bryant Park.

Leadership Scholars! This is a college support class recommended for 11^th graders (and 10^th if interested).  The group will focus on issues of educational justice and college readiness and college prep.  The educational justice aspect of the class will examine such questions as:  What makes a good school, and why aren’t all schools good?  What is a “good education” and how can you fight for your right to one?  You will also receive support, guidance, and information around your own college plans.  You will learn about what colleges are looking for, how to apply, what options to consider, and you will begin the journey towards college today!  Open to sophomores and juniors only. Leadership Scholars will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 – 6:00pm in midtown Manhattan near Bryant Park.

We are currently accepting applications for both these tracks.  

Youth can apply online from our website, http://sadienash.org/online_nashu.php. Applications are due by Monday, Sept 30^th, 2013 and youth will be invited to a short interview session once we have reviewed their applications. We are also hosting Open Houses on Wednesday, September 25^th at 4pm, Thursday, Sept. 26^th at 4pm and Saturday Sept. 28^th at 1pm in Midtown Manhattan at 4 West 43^rd Street, Suite 502, New York, NY 10036. Youth must RSVP to attend an Open House by e-mailing Margarita at margarita@sadienash.org.

Looking for students (grades 9-12) to participate in a two-year project... Contact Ms. MacNeil ASAhumanlyP, please and thanks!

Remember this poem?

We’re Building the Ship as We Sail It, Kay Ryan

The first fear

being drowning, the

ship’s first shape

was a raft, which

was hard to unflatten

after that didn’t

happen. It’s awkward

to have to do one’s

planning in extremis

in the early years -

so hard to hide later:

sleekening the hull,

making things

more gracious.

Who?

·       Interested in making a long-ish term commitment to social justice issues?

·       Are you curious and passionate about your work as a founding student at WHEELS?

·       Do you have questions about the making and implementing of those systems that allow us to make a thing for ourselves?

What?

Consider apply to work with me on “The Ship’s First Shape,” a partnership with folks (undergraduate students interested in service design work and their professors) at Parsons (the design branch of The New School for Social Research) and The Fortune Society (which, among other things, serves students who have formerly been incarcerated, and their teachers).  We’ll consider the larger focusing question: What does it mean when we make a thing for ourselves?

We’ll use this to guide our work as we ask questions including but not limited to:

• What sustains us?
• What nourishes us?
• What makes us healthy (in lots of ways)?

Where?

Students will work with project partners on-site at WHEELS, at Parsons, at The Fortune Society and at yet-to-be-determined fieldwork sites.

When?

This is a two year project.  Students in grades 9-12 can apply (with the knowledge that if seniors are selected, those remaining students will help to select their replacements in 2014-2015). 

Partnership meetings will happen before school, at lunch, after school, and occasionally, on weekends.  All participants will have a say in our scheduling. 

This project will require an on-going commitment (likely 1-5 hours/week).

Why?

This is the question I’ll be asking at your interview (and through-out the next two years).

Additional information

Ideal WHEELS candidates for “The Ship’s First Shape” Project should:

·       have a genuine curiosity about what it means be in community with folks and what it means to have a sense of agency in active decisions making in our school community;

·       want to serve as WHEELS student docent and panelist;

·       be in reasonable academic standing;

·       be in reasonable standing with her/his parents (as fieldwork will require some travel in NYC);

·       have an interest in notions of social justice;

·       have LOTS of ideas;

·       like working both alone and with others;

·       have interest in/openness to working with folks at Parsons and/or The Fortune Society.

Interested?  I’ll be interviewing folks in August and September; let me know!

With thanks and hope. 

Ms. MacNeil

k.macneil@wheelsnyc.org

N.B. This project carries a modest (this means not-so-much) stipend (this means CASH MONEY) with it AND a travel/meal allowance.

Sosúa: Dare to Dance Together ... FREE teen programs at the YM&WHA on Nagle...

Sosúa: Dare to Dance Together

Our award-winning Sosúa: Dare to Dance Together program continues to provide inspiration to and a broad range of emotional responses from teen performers, audiences at renowned venues in New York City and beyond, and the community at large. Seeded by a UJA-Federation grant in 2009, Sosúa: Dare to Dance Together was originally conceived by the Y to foster intergroup relations between the Jewish and Dominican populations in the community we serve. This original musical, composed and created by Liz Swados (HTTP://LIZSWADOS.COM/), sparked passion and excitement as it brought together New York City teens from diverse backgrounds to share the story of Sosúa, the designated city for Jewish refugees after the Dominican Republic granted visas to over 800 German Jews seeking to escape the Nazi regime prior to World War II.

The YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood envisioned Sosúa as a project that would unite the Dominican and Jewish communities in Washington Heights. In many ways, the musical provided a shared experience for people in those two communities to start a dialogue and to build deeper community relations and understanding.  But Sosua’s impact grew wider as it became a blueprint for engaging people from diverse ethnic and socio-economic constituencies to build bridges of cultural understanding and tolerance. This year’s multi-ethnic cast - Jewish, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Japanese, Russian, Israeli, and Haitian – was comprised of 16 teens from NYC public and private middle and high schools, and not only reflects Sosúa’s wider message but also gives the project new meaning. On a personal note, cast members identified with the stigma, fear, and anxiety that being a persecuted minority can bring. For many in the cast, Sosúa was about creating a world where differences in race, gender, or religion are celebrated and where human nature values the uniqueness of every person.

http://www.ywashhts.org/youth/teens/sosúa-dare-dance-together

Sosúa encouraged audience members to join the cast in "reaching out and giving a little something" to the world around them, ignoring barriers that often stop us from getting to know a strange. Sosúa is the beginning of the story; the audience is asked to finish it.

The United Nations (U.N.) saw the potential Sosúa had to inspire and invited our third year cast to perform at the General Assembly on January 26, 2012 as part of a special program for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sosúa’s U.N. performance visibly attracted the attention of the international community, as two cultural groups provided teachable moments about genocide and racial prejudices through a musical production, making the history more personal and relatable to larger audiences. Many speeches were made at the U.N. by dignitaries that day about the need for racial harmony and to remind the current and next generations about the horrors of genocide, yet Sosúa was the most vivid example of what can happen when a vision becomes reality.
WATCH A SHORT VIDEO of the Sosúa performance at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.

Experience the transformative power of Sosúa and carry the message of peace and unity to the world community. Begin now by contacting Victoria Neznansky (VNEZNANSKY@YWASHHTS.ORG) at 212-569-6200 x204.

Possibility Project Auditions Friday, September 20, 2012 1PM-2:30 PM in room 431

Possibility Project Auditions Friday, September 20, 2012 1PM-2:30 PM in room 431.  No acting experience necessary.  Come with an open mind and a willingness to commit to student-centered work.