By Hawah Kasat | Executive Director
One Common Unity has been off to a great start in 2018! Thanks to your support, we have been very busy scaling up our programs across D.C., engaging thousands more students in our programming.
After months of preparation, in January 2018 our amazing team of facilitators launched our new Fly By Light in-school programs at eight public middle schools and high schools representing all eight wards of Washington, DC. This new in-school programming comes in addition to the after-school and weekend programs we run at a further three middle schools.
Our programming focuses on non-violence, social emotional literacy, health and wellness, social justice, artistic expression, conflict resolution and mindfulness and vastly expands opportunities for youth to realize their full potential and become socially and emotionally literate leaders and adults. Ultimately, we hope and expect that our expanded engagement as an in-school program will enable school-wide culture shifts away from violence and trauma and towards more peaceful, inspiring learning environments for our youth.
As an example of some of our work in schools, our facilitators work with administrators and teachers to implement mindfulness in-and-out of the classroom. As a mindfulness, restorative justice, and trauma informed alternative to the traditional detention room, at each of our schools we establish an “Intention Room” to offer youth a safe space to process their emotions, expand self-awareness and positively shift behavior. Stepping into the Intention Room students find a far more peaceful environment designed for meditation, restorative justice dialogues, and expressive arts activities.
Simply providing students a few minutes each day for a mindfulness practice often allows students to go on with the rest of their day in a more relaxed and grounded way. As one teacher at Hart Middle School said to our program facilitator, Rashid Hughes: “I really like how the students are able to be with you for the first twenty minutes of class because they transition back to me much calmer and ready to do work.” Fly By Light is shifting the school culture of violence –– one breath at a time!
On Tuesday February 27th, we hosted our “Fly By Light Youth Winter Showcase” at Busboys and Poets’ 5th & K location. Focused on the theme “Breaking Stereotypes and Speaking Truth.”our Fly By Light Performance Troupe, which is comprised of many of the most talented youth artists from across DC, shared powerful, vulnerable, inspiring and moving original pieces to a full house. Their art ranged from rap to interpretative dance, visual art, poetry, acapella, and spoken word. They never cease to amaze us! To check out clips and photos of that night check out our Facebook and Instagram. We send a big thank you to Andy Shallal and the Busboys and Poets team for having us!
In the wake of the recent school shooting in Florida, youth across the country have come together to mobilize a movement to change gun policy. At each of our schools, Fly By Light youth have engaged in profound conversations to imagine peaceful schools and address safety in their lives and are working in their communities to bring people together to attend the March For Our Lives March taking place on March 24th.
We want to thank you for your support as we continue to shift the culture of silence and violence to positive praxis, language and action!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
