| Activists:
12
Facilitators:
1st
Session: The kids were asked to fill out questionnaires
(yan-community-issues-form and the yan-member-
interest-form). YAN past projects and objectives
were discussed and flyers about YAN were put up
in various places in the clubhouse.
2nd Session:The
next session bagan by using the TakingItGlobal
framework. A worksheet from www.takingITglobal.org
was handed out and the kids were asked to
list their interests, skills and desires in preparation
of undertaking a project and spent about 10 minutes
having the kids fill in diagrams about their interests
and their skills. An activity where they created
their "activist identities" was conducted.
Pictures of the kids were taken and then they
Photoshoped their images into superheroes of Chelsea.
The kids came up with a lot of creative images
of themselves.
3rd Session:In
this session specific roles for activists for
the general meeting structure were defined. For
example,the Secretary writes down what happens
at meeting, gets attendance, writes agenda;Videographer
mans camera during session and uploads it at the
end of each meeting to the server;Meeting Chair
makes sure we are following the agenda, makes
sure everyone is at the meeting, pays attention
to the time, and calls on people;Planning Committee
plans for the next meeting.
Three issues, teen
pregnancy, drugs and gangs were selected out of
the many different issues mentioned in the questionnaires
and TakingItGlobal worksheet by the kids. The
kids were organized into three groups each assigned
with one of the topics.The kids discussed in their
groups why their issue was the most important
followed by a mock debate. Lastly, a final vote
decided the overall winner as Teen Pregnancy.
4th Session:A scavenger hunt was done to find
information and resources on teen pregnancy in
general and Chelsea in particular.
5th Session: The
next session started with the kids deciding on
who would fill which
roles, and this was a great moment that was very
much youth led. An award was given to Katie for
her stellar attendance record. She seemed very
surprised and
happy and the group responded with a round of
clapping. It was planned to have a teen mother
(a former Club member) come in to speak to the
group.A list of questions to be asked were prepared
as a group. In the end the mother did not show
up, which seemed to disappoint the group a little.
It was suggested by a facilitator that the questions
could be asked of any teen mother. Three ways
of action on the issue were described by the whole
group:
- Direct Action demonstration, protest, etc
- Educational Campaign leafet, video, etc
- Lobbying Superintendent of School, Principal,
etc.
6th Session: It
was decided to conduct interviews in the community
as a way to approach the issues above. This session
was dedicated to practicing the interview question
amongst the activists' group. Some of the questions
were-
- Can you describe your life just before you got
pregnant?
- What kind of information would have been most
useful to you before you got pregnant?
- Can you describe the time that you found out
you where pregnant?
- How did you feel when you found out?
- Who did you talk to?
- Who helped you out the most?
- How did your family react?
- How did the father of the baby react?
- Is he still involved?
- Can you describe your life after you got pregnant?
etc....
7th Session: It
was decided that the kids would go and talk to
ROCA, a local organization similar to the Boys
and Girls Club with a major focus on teen pregnancy,
and Sam, a social worker who ran a Baby Think
It Over Dolls program in the club.We had three
cameras The activists were organized into three
groups with four or five activists in each with
one mentor for each group. One group went out
to interview other kids about teen pregnancy,
one went to interview Sam and the third went to
shoot some stuff with the Baby Think It Over dolls.
The activists got very good footage and a very
good interview with Sam.
8th Session: The
kids were shown how to use Windows Movie Maker
to make a simple movie. One facilitator was also
willing to write some scripts for the skits. The
activists and facilitators divided themselves
into four grouos focussed on the following tasks:
- video production on few pieces we could do in
the Club
- fundraiser idea planning
- editing
- writing
A Teen Pregnancy
event was organized for YAN members, former YAN
members, and guests. There were 50+ visitors.
The Clubhouse was divided into stations, with
computers set up for various uses - teenpregnancy.org
computer based test, and each of the three YAN
videos. The kids set up an information table,
with signs and maps. The event was very well received
and the energy was very good. The kids did a really
great job.
9th Session: The
last session was marked by a celebration of the
project with a show of the footage of the Teen
Pregnancy event and cakes and balloons and paper
plate awards for everyone.The kids passed a balloon
around and each one took a turn saying what they
were thankful for. One group also put on a dance
performance. |
