Tule Elk Park Project - Rex beneficiary 2006
Tule Elk Park provides a high quality early childhood education that values the importance of relationships, diversity, literacy, creativity, high individual expectations, and the natural world so all children will realize their full potential. TEP offers both all-day and after-school programs for pre-kindergarten and elementary children, who reflect the ethnic, racial, economic, cultural and linguistic diversity of San Francisco. Priorities are Literacy Development and Project Learning, Parent Involvement and Community Building, and Professional Development and Leadership. Programs aim to provide an environment-based curriculum and increase public awareness about the vital connection between nature, outdoor learning, and school success. TEP is committed to "greening" schools and creating the outdoor learning environments that every child deserves.
Seven Teepees Youth Program - Rex beneficiary 2006
The mission of Seven Tepees is to work with urban youth to foster the skills they need to make lifelong positive choices and to create their own opportunities for success. The program design features a seven-year commitment to each student from 6th grade through graduation from high school and a scholarship for college or trade school. Each youth participates in academic tutoring 3-5 times weekly, college advising, year round one-on-one adult mentoring, personal counseling, family support, job training and outdoor resource program. The purpose is not only to prevent high-risk youth from entering the criminal justice system but to have them thrive in their personal lives, attend college or trade school and give back to the community.
San Francisco Youth and Government Delegation - Rex beneficiary 2005
Youth & Government is a California state wide program that engages urban youth in a hands-on approach to learning democracy. Teens from grades 10-12 spend 6 months researching the lawmaking process, how government works, and drafting legislation. The program culminates in a 5-day model legislative session and court in Sacramento, complete with youth governor, youth justices and the enactment of legislation. "Democracy must be learned by every generation," is the program's motto. The San Francisco Delegation includes over forty students who attend approximately thirteen different high schools. They are a diverse group in many respects including culture, socio-economic status, political beliefs and style.
Heart Mountain Prison Project - Rex beneficiary 2004
The Heart Mountain Prison Project conducts classes and workshops for youth and adults incarcerated in county jails, detention facilities and the state penitentiary in New Mexico, where the prison population is growing at ten times the national speed. The program's anger and stress management skills are aimed at reducing the high rate of recidivism in New Mexico jails, while youth programs provide early intervention coupled with confidence-building skills to the mostly Native American juvenile population. Prisoners are taught to understand feelings of anger and frustration, while learning new and positive skills for dealing with those feelings. The project publishes a bilingual meditation manual distributed for free to prisoners nationwide.
Children's Book Project - Rex beneficiary 2003
The purpose of the Children's Book Project is to help economically disadvantaged children learn to read by providing the children and their shelters, schools and daycare facilities with books and other resources.
Little Kids Rock - Rex beneficiary 2002
The mission of Little Kids Rock (LKR) is based upon its belief that music is a critical component of a well-balanced education. Recognizing that today arts education in general and music in particular are minimal or completely absent in many schools, the organization was founded in 1996 to bring free music instruction to low-income children in public schools. The goal is to enable the students to write their own music and develop a musical voice at a young age. Consequently the emphasis is on composition and performance, rather than notation-based instruction. The focus is on popular music, including rock, funk, blues, rap and hip-hop. Each class culminates with a recording project featuring the LKR students (aged 5-12) playing popular pieces, and singing songs of their own composition. LKR furthers its mission by hosting free teacher workshops that train music mentors who will lead new classes on a volunteer basis outside of normal school hours, with their efforts supported by LKR, which also supplies guitars free of charge for use in the mentors' classes. (Students who successfully complete the first year of the program and commit to a second year get to keep the guitar permanently.)
