Established in the wake of the infamous racial confrontation in Bensonhurst and killing of 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins in December 1989, the project trains and deploys teams of volunteers (mostly lawyers, law and graduate students, community leaders and civic-minded professionals) to team-teach our award-winning Unlearning Stereotypes course at public high schools and junior high schools in New York City. Our program has been housed in some 40 public high schools throughout the five boroughs and two junior high schools in Manhattan, and continues the effort to confront the problems of bias and discrimination before they manifest into acts of violence and hatred. Participation in our Unlearning Stereotypes program entails a weekly commitment for the current FALL-WINTER 2009 school semester, October-December. Volunteers will be assigned as two-person teams and as such will co-teach a regular high school or junior high school class. In order to visually promote our message of interracial cooperation and harmony, we try to make each team bi-racial as well as co-ed. Classes last approximately 40 minutes and are mostly held in the mornings, prior to working hours. However, our Unlearning Stereotypes volunteers' actual teaching schedules depend on the availability of the classes at the participating schools and some classes are in the early and mid-afternoon (prior to 3 PM). Including transportation and preparation time, our volunteers commit to approximately two to three hours per week. The teaching approach of our program is non-traditional, and each class is intended to be a forum that develops students’ awareness and critical thinking through open dialogue and debate. Our volunteers do not lecture, but serve as facilitators of candid discussion—about current events and controversial topics of interest to the students, such as race relations, gender discrimination and religious bigotry. Our volunteers use a type of an interactive Socratic teaching method, role-play exercises, and courtroom scenarios, including mock trials. The aim is to promote critical examination by the students of their own attitudes—as well as their classmates’—thereby learning about themselves and each other. Our objective is not only to get high school and junior high school students to directly confront and evaluate the stereotypes and prejudices that contribute to ethnic polarization and intergroup conflicts, but to give them the knowledge and much needed opportunity to express their opinions and to think critically about these vexing human relations concerns and social problems. Our volunteers have mostly been lawyers and law students. They do not necessarily need to have formal teaching experience. Rather, individuals who are dedicated to the careful examination of social problems and who have a broad knowledge of civics, law, and civil rights issues will be well-qualified to lead the weekly discussions. In addition, the curriculum in our program covers various other discrimination topics, such as sexual orientation, age, and disability matters. Thus, knowledge of the legal system is helpful, and we feel that lawyers, law students, and paralegals are ideally suited for this unique classroom teaching experience. Because so many do not open attachments we have not included with this e-mail the flyer--a one-page description of our project--which can serve as an announcement of this volunteer opportunity. Therefore, we will send it to you once we know of your interest, for immediate and prominent posting. We need increased numbers of volunteers in order to meet the heavy demand from the schools. This program is offered at high schools citywide at no cost, and we need volunteers who work or live in every borough of our city. Interested persons will need to contact us immediately for training prior to placement. They should email us: sgeller@nycivilrights.org or call Alex at 212-563-5636. In order to be accepted into the program and assigned to a school, all volunteers must register for and participate in a training session; trainings are held in September. We anticipate placing our volunteer teams in schools as early as the second week in October and no later than the third week in October. So, we need to hear from prospective volunteers at once!! The New York Civil Rights Coalition (www.nycivilrights.org) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization. Thank you for your immediate attention to spreading the word about this program and for your anticipated assistance. Sincerely yours, Michael Meyers, Executive Director New York Civil Rights Coalition (212) 563-5636 CONTACT Alex, at 212-563-5636, for training or else send us an e-mail to: sgeller@nycivilrights.org |
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Volunteer Opportunity: New York Civil Rights Coalition’s Unlearning Stereotypes: Civil Rights and Race Relations Project.posted Sep 22, 2009 6:33 AM by Cardozo NLG |