Invest in the Future of 20 New Youth Leaders!

Wow! What a busy summer! As we head into fall — working in 21 schools through both our in-school and after school Fly By Light program and our new Mental Health expansion! — we’re proud to look back on a summer full of peace education, artistic expression, and community building. 

Highlights from the summer include:

• Peace & Positivity - Music Video, Block Party, and NBC Feature: On June 21, we released "Peace & Positivity" — an inspiring music video, written and performed by Fly By Light Alumni artists DougieD, Nfinity Zhy and Isaiah King. To celebrate, we hosted a Peace & Positivity Block Party in Anacostia on July 13, which brought together and called upon community members to end violence. The event was also featured on NBC! 
• Fly By Light Summer Nature Retreats: This summer we hosted two Fly By Light youth retreats: one on June for 16 high school students and another on July for 9 middle school students. Both retreats ran for four nights and five days and took place at the Am Kolel Sanctuary and Renewal Center in Montgomery County, Maryland. Our youth spent their time developing their arts expression, social-emotional and environmental leadership skills through activities which included daily yoga and mindfulness, teambuilding and community dialogues around social justice issues, gratitude practices, nature immersion, specialized training in arts expression, and immersive day trips including hiking, kayaking, and a farm animal sanctuary. Youth emerged from the retreat ready to bring back the experiences and skills they learned, and spread the work of Fly By Light throughout their schools and communities. In addition, two of our high school students were so inspired by the retreat that they created an “Organizing Troupe,” which meets once a week at OCU’s central office and helps to build an intentional social justice movement and create connections across our programs.
• An Imperfect Union: An Imperfect Union is a weekly Facebook series that brings two people together with opposing views to work together on a service project in their community. We were thrilled to be featured on episode 42, which focuses on two adults with opposing views of the U.S. asylum process. In the second half of the video, OCU Co-Founder and Executive Director, Hawah Kasat, facilitated a meditation and group poetry session for our School Without Wall High School students and the two adults. After the workshop, all participants expressed increased positivity and were able to find common ground. 
• Fly By Light National Training: From July 15-19, we were honored to host 22 educators, teachers, youth workers, community organizers, artists, and activists from around the world for our first ever Fly By Light National Training! Our award-winning program model and curriculum includes after-school and in-school workshops, overnight nature immersion retreats, annual city-wide showcases, professional development for teachers, parents, and other school administrators, and youth-led social justice campaigns. This new initiative allowed us to train and certify each participant to lead Fly By Light chapters in their communities and we are excited to expand our movement both nationally and globally. 
• Professional Development Training for School Staff and Teachers: Thanks to a new partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), our FBL facilitators began offering professional development trainings for teachers and staff focused on trauma-informed care, social-emotional literacy, cultural competence and humility, anti-racism/ implicit bias, and other topics as needed. Through these workshops, OCU equips teachers with the current youth development best practices and supports them long-term to transform classroom cultures and climates.
• Funding Update: This summer, we were so honored to be chosen for a Community Service Grant through the DC Rotary Foundation as well as a DC Humanities Council grant for a new film project. In addition, we were awarded an additional $500,000 from the Department of Behavioral Health to continue to expand our mental health services.

In addition, we’re excited to kick off the fall with some of the following exciting initiatives: 

• Intention Not Detention: On September 9th, we will release our newest music video, Miss Intention, composed by and featuring OCU's dynamic and inspiring Facilitator and Performance Troupe Director, Princess Best (aka The HipHopMomma). The video kicks off our #IntentionNotDetention campaign to establish Intention Rooms™ as designated alternatives to in-school suspensions. Intention Rooms are safe, trauma-informed spaces to support students to reflect upon and transform behavior. This starts with an intentional, trauma-informed alternative to punitive discipline; one that builds students’ self-esteem, sense of agency, and empowers them to lead the lives they are capable of. 
• Elevate Peace:You’re invited to join us for Elevate Peace, an evening to celebrate nearly 20 years of our transformative work. Elevate Peace will take place on November 14th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the historic Josephine Butler Parks Center. The evening will feature inspiring speakers and performances from program alumni along with curated cocktails and delicious small bites. Save the date!
• Mental Health Expansion: In addition to offering our award winning Fly By Light program across all 8 Wards of DC, we are very excited to expand our school-based mental health services through the city's School Based Mental Health Expansion program. In addition to our facilitators, we are placing mental health clinicians in public schools across the city to provide a three-tiered continuum of behavioral health support, offering prevention, early intervention and treatment services to our students.

On behalf of our youth and staff, thank you for your support of One Common Unity. Because of you, we are able to continue building healthy, safe, and resilient communities through the transformative power of education and the arts. We couldn't do any of this without you, and we are so grateful for your support.