ArtEsteem
Attitudinal Healing Connection (AHC) - Oakland, CA
Since 1995, AHC’s award-winning art and literacy program has helped develop creative, engaged and successful children/youth through building knowledge and emotional, social, academic and intellectual skills.
ArtEsteem engages students and supports their positive development – body, mind, and heart. The program help keep children and youth interested in school through creating individual and collective educational excellence across academic subjects.
In addition to art classes for children and youth, ArtEsteem Art Instructors provide professional development consulting and hands-on training for educators in art curricula –and also in support of academic subjects (e.g. science and social studies) – to help teachers develop visually engaging and hands-on methods that improve student involvement, comprehension, and critical thinking.
Participants discover how to self reflect and dream, as well as focus on their tasks and “follow through” by completing their art projects. Methods used by ArtEsteem guide students to think practically about the world and their abilities to manifest positive and creative outcomes. Classes also build students’ language and math literacy, aesthetic appreciation, listening and performance skills. Students learn – through dialogue, reading, and writing – conceptual understandings of social, historical, and cultural topics to engage and inform their minds, and develop the whole child, in expansive ways.
For further information please contact Amana Harris, Executive Director, at amana@ahc-oakland.org or 510.652.5530
Children’s Wilderness Day
Centre for Attitudinal Healing - Perth - Perth, Australia
The Children’s Wilderness Day, a camp for children living in refugee camps or recently released from detention centers in Western Australia. The program has children from diverse cultures between seven and nine years of age.
In Co-Founder Meneesha’s Machalka's words, “It was something we have been dreaming and planning for a few years now, and it was absolutely magical. Through free play, cubby building and exploring out in the bush the kids were able to start to share their stories, explore their feelings and also just be kids. They were enjoying, many for the first time, being safe and playing."
To learn more about this innovative program, please contact the Centre for Attitudinal Healing - Perth at centre@attitudinalhealing.org.au
Elige
CECURA Guadalajara - Guadalajara, Mexico
Lucero Aguirre, Co-Founder of CECURA Guadalajara, implemented the Elige Program along with a leadership team of 7. The program is a cultural adaptation of the Power to Choose and was piloted in 2013 at a local elementary school serving over 500 children and 100 parents and teachers.
The leadership team made cultural and structural adaptations to the program in order to work directly with students, parents, and teachers. The success of the pilot led to requests from other public and private schools at which the program was successfully implemented.
The CECURA Guadalajara leadership team has successfully trained teachers at a number of schools in other cities and countries to implement the program. This team modeled making the program culturally relevant and accessible to children, teachers and parents by introducing other elements such as storytelling and the arts.
For further information please contact Luz Elena Aguirre, Executive Director, at cecuraguadalajara@prodigy.net.mx
Power to Choose - Kumasi, Ghana
Attitudinal Healing Center - Kumasi, Ghana
The Power To Choose program, a curriculum based on the Principles of Attitudinal Healing that consists of 11 week-long sessions is offered in ten senior high schools and two universities in Ghana. In addition, David Owusu, founder of AH Kumasi, started an organization known as Citizens For A Better World, which incorporates Attitudinal Healing into the training of young adults, enabling them to become better citizens of their country and the world at large.
Power to Choose
Beijing AH Mental Health Service Center - China
In July 2017, AHI collaborated with AH China and the Children’s Development Foundation to support rural teachers and “left-behind” children using Attitudinal Healing. In Jinzhai, they launched the Rural Teacher Training Program by offering a Power to Choose training. One hundred ninety-six teachers participated in seven days of training. During the training, teachers worked together to create culturally relevant lesson plans designed to introduce Attitudinal Healing concepts to primary, middle and secondary school students. Since that time, the Power to Choose program has also been introduced in Beijing and Shenzhen.
Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project
Attitudinal Healing Connection (AHC) - Oakland, CA
The Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project is West Oakland and Emeryville’s first large scale mural revitalization and beautification project. As part of the planning process, AHC surveyed residents of the Hoover Corridor Neighborhood where the murals would be located. Community members were asked to describe positive and negative aspects of the neighborhood as well, as their hopes and dreams for the community and future public art pieces. Responses determine the content of the murals. AHC hires mainly Oakland based artists to paint the murals, as the whole process promotes and exemplifies community collaboration from beginning to end.
The murals are designed and conceptualized by local middle and high school students, giving youth the rare opportunity to be critically engaged in a public forum and really allowing their voices to be heard.
The project encompasses four underpasses which include 7 massive support walls under the 580 freeway in Oakland California. Approximately 28,000 square feet of concrete blighted canvas has been approved by Oakland City Council to paint with the mission of cultivating, educating and engaging schools and youth in community issues through the power of public art. Three murals have been completed and the fourth is in progress.
For further information please contact Amana Harris, Executive Director, at amana@ahc-oakland.org or visit www.oaklandmuralproject.com
Power to Choose
Center for Attitudinal Healing - Mongolia
The CAH-Mongolia under the direction of Founder, Undarlaa Battogtokh successfully implemented the Power to Choose program in five schools in the capital, Ulan Bataar. The youth in these schools were ages 12-15. The program met weekly for 3 hours and served a total of 66 participants during the 12 weeks.
The CAH-Mongolia applied for funding from Swiss Development Agency for the Power to Choose program implementation and received funding. For further information please contact Trish Ellis, International Communications Coordinator, at trish@ahinternational.org
Power to Choose
Hawaii Center for Attitudinal Healing - Honolulu, HI
The Hawaii Center for Attitudinal Healing implemented the Power to Choose program for eight consecutive years until 2012 in a public high school serving grades 9-12. During those 8 years, over 1000 students were impacted by the Power to Choose program via the 12-week session, the support group model, and/or the freshman orientation program. The Power to Choose program was relaunched in 2014 with the second cohort of the program in a middle school.
For further information please contact Trish Ellis at ahhawaii2016@gmail.com
Youth Leadership
Cameroon Center for Attitudinal Healing
In 2014, Tasha Abdou, Founder of the Cameroon Center for Attitudinal Healing, implemented the Youth Leadership Program, a cultural adaptation of the Power to Choose. The program is still active at the Governmental Bilingual High School Deido in Douala Cameroon, where Tasha works directly with 14-18 year old youth.
Mr. Abdou has offered the Power to Choose Facilitator Training in Douala, during which several youth participants from the first Youth Leadership Program attended. Once trained, youth participants served as Youth Assistant Facilitators during the next cohort.
Tasha continues to expand and enhance the program, offering more opportunities for youth to develop their facilitation and leadership skills.
For further information please contact Abdou Tasha, Center Director, at tashaabdou@yahoo.fr
For College applications of Attitudinal Healing, please see EDUCATION – College section
