Thank you for your interest in our Sticks And Stones program!
We are excited to welcome you to our home-on-the-web and share the details of this very important and multifaceted program.
Please feel free to click on the pages in the navigation bar above to learn about the various components of the program in more detail.
As a general overview, the concept for Sticks And Stones began as a way to address school violence.
Instead of asking, “What will it take to keep our students safe from a shooter?” this program changes the narrative and asks, “What will it take for our students to not become a shooter in the first place?”
What would that look like?
In order to do this, we have to imagine that we could go back in time and take ahold of this individual when they were four, or five, or ten… whatever age they needed to be, before their thoughts and emotions became twisted.
What could we have done differently to have diffused the situation before it got out of hand and festered, unabated, to this level?
Our original concept – that was aimed specifically at eradicating gun violence – has now grown into a larger, more comprehensive plan for not only addressing aggression in school, but also implementing preventive measures to help mitigate risk factors in early childhood development, before they become an issue.
The best way to describe the program is: Sesame Street (a children’s program) meets DARE (a program that goes into the schools) meets JTPA (a previously federally funded summer youth employment program)… but instead of Sesame Street, our characters are based on the “It’s Hard To Be A Kid These Days” book series, we talk about appropriate expression of emotions instead of drugs, and our students are rewarded for specific accomplishments and random acts of kindness.
Each time we take a step forward with the program, it blossoms even larger to include and benefit more students.
We have defined both intervention methods and, more importantly, preventive measures that we can take to address our students’ mental health, their physical needs, and promote emotional maturity.
Our program is heavy on the concept of Belonging vs Fitting In
Our next steps and current initiatives are:
Costumes and Set Design
We are actively seeking funding to develop the costumes and set design for our elementary school presentations.
Belonging Initiative
We would like to introduce several small, informal clubs for students to explore various subjects – ranging from engineering to rock-collecting – to encourage them to seek out others who share their interests, thereby fostering their sense of belonging.
To this end, we have been searching various funding opportunities. Interestingly, there are sources of STEAM – related funds available. This is one example of where our program has blossomed.
For instance, if we secure funds from an outside source, such as DiscoverE (engineering), to hold an event during Engineers Week, we can use those funds to: 1) issue a project challenge / contest to the engineering students of Innovation Academy, 2) hold an Open House where they can present their projects to (and educate) the public, 3) reward them for project completion,
and then!
After the challenge is finished, we can take the projects (and engineers) to the elementary school for those students to explore. They can see how each project works and talk to the engineers about everything from conceptualization, to design, to construction and how the finished product works and benefits society.
We believe that this not only provides our Innovation Academy students with a fun, exciting, and educational experience, but it will also model to them the importance of giving back to their community through sharing their ideas and educating those younger than themselves.
Equally as important, bringing the completed projects to the elementary school will:
1) spark those students’ interest in the subject,
2) give us an easy springboard to begin our clubs, and
3) give our younger students a reason to want to learn to read.
*Another blossoming experience happened when we were researching our city’s demographics and learned that 31% of our children live below the poverty level and an astounding 83% of our elementary students are not reading at a proficient level.
We have added components to our original plan and developed a separate program to address this issue as well. Sparking their interest and imagination can provide a critical catalyst to their desire to learn to read.
And the beauty of it all is that we can do this again and again with other subjects of interest (sciences, art, math, technology, the sky is the limit)!
Thank you so very much for your interest in our program; we would love for you to partner with us to help our children grow and thrive.
We do genuinely appreciate you!