Community Post: SB's First Anti-Bullying Youth Summit - April 28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact;
Lisa Thomas Macrum, M.A. – Event Director
Director-Youth Outreach Programs
Youth & Family Services Branch
Channel Islands YMCA
55 Hitchcock Way Suite 101
Santa Barbara, Ca. 93105
805-569-1103 ext. 11
www.youthoutreachciymca.org

Empowering Youth to Create Change ~ Anti-Bullying Youth Summit
Saturday, April 28th 8:00 – 1:30
Inside the Santa Barbara Courthouse

Youth Outreach Programs-Channel Islands YMCA and Assets for Santa Barbara Youth Coalition (a 38 member strong community coalition dedicated to our youth) are proud to present Santa Barbara County ’s First Anti-Bullying Youth Summit—Empowering Youth to Create Change. This event is part of a six month Anti-Bullying campaign at four Santa Barbara School District secondary schools. All S.B. County teens are invited to the Youth Summit and there will be presentations from the 4 schools that are participating in the anti-bullying project. Our work focuses on prevention as well as intervention which is essential and enhanced in combination with our collaborating coalition member’s services providing a highly comprehensive program. The Mayor, Chief of Police, Superintendent & Assistant Superintendent of S.B. School district have dedicated their day to interact with teens. We expect over 100 youth in attendance (not including the many educators and adults whom will also be in attendance). Through out the day attendees will be invited to participate in the creation of a community mural led by students from the Visual Arts and Design Academy from SB High School. Hundreds of art pieces from the Building Bridges: Bringing our Community Together through Art Project will be on display as well as stories of bullying. Student attendees will create an action plan for their schools. We are thrilled to facilitate our community to come together for our youth and to offer an empowering event to inspire our future leaders to be change agents.

Building Bridges – Bringing Our Community Together through Art
A 2 to 3 month outreach into schools grades 5-12. Youth are given an intimate and personal insight into someone very different from a handwritten survey completed by a diverse member of our community. People from retirement homes, sober living homes, juvenile hall centers and homeless shelters complete surveys about their lives, interests, adventures, profound experiences and mentorship experiences. Intermediary mentors transfer the surveys to youth. Students create a piece of art made specifically for the person from the information given on the survey. Attached to the art is a hand written letter of caring also created by the student. This program fosters tolerance, awareness, understanding through art. The presentation of the art pieces and letters of caring is documented by video and pictures which are shared with students providing an opportunity for them to see the impact that they had on the person they created the art for. Youth express feeling self-worth, empowerment and compassion because they made a difference for someone else. The recipients are given a special piece of art with a personally crafted handwritten letter that reminds them daily that they are valued and cared about by a youth in their community.

Community Mural Project
To be created on site at SB County’s first Anti-Bullying Youth Summit With the mentorship of a professional artist, Colin Gray, Santa Barbara High School students in the VADA (Visual Arts and Design Academy ) will help design and lead the creation of a community mural in which all Youth Summit participants are invited to contribute to. The theme will be “Community Coming Together, Respect, Caring, Embracing our Youth”. Students will learn about local community serving nonprofit agencies and decide which agency to give the mural to. At reception in May the mural will be presented to the chosen agency. The mural will be created by over 100 members of our community and be a visual representation of our coming together to embrace our youth!

www.youthoutreachciymca.org

Our presenting sponsor; The Wood Claeyssens Foundation
Current co-sponsors
S.B. County Workforce Investment Board, City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation, Hutton Foundation, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Pacific Beverage, Earl Warren Show Grounds, United Way of Santa Barbara, Sarah Miller McCune, Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, Sun Ray Properties, and the Santa Barbara Independent.

Schedule for the day can be found by clicking here.