Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights

The Lowery Institute 'agents of change' program connects highachieving undergraduate and graduate students with elementary and middle school students in atlanta's historic westside community. The program allows the Lowery Institute to do the following: "perform missioncritical work that advances the strategic initiatives of the Institute in the areas of social Justice and nonviolence. "work with elementary and middle school students in both small and large group dimensions to create postive selfidentity and increased efficacy amongst 'atrisk' student population. "gather information through observation of and engagement with students in order to assess the level of conflict to be addressed by their peer mediators. "identify the best environment for the students to receive peer mediation and small group sessions. "build relationships with the teachers, administrators and curriculum development staff at partner schools. "use partnership opportunities as creative engagement with the students. "interact with influential leaders in the metro atlanta community and the educational arena to enhance the leadership capacity of the next generation of leader. "expand the capacity of the Lowery Institute to empower lesserserved members of the westside community to effect positive change. "explore, support, and inspire thoughtful dialogue and engagement with all those working for the betterment of our communities.why a violence initiative? The american educational system is presently overwhelmed by the influx of violent behavior in the academic setting. In addition, almost a third of all children in american hover at or just above the poverty line, infusing yet another social barrier into the growing epidemic of violent behavior. What are the program goals? The jeli violence initiative, through its change agent (ca) program, is examining factors that put young people at risk for experiencing and/or perpetrating violence. Utilizing the nonviolence principles of the Institute and coupling them with conflict managment, alternative dispute resolution and peer mediation training, our program works direclty with elementary school students through peerled interactions and engagements during schooltime hours. What curriculum is being used? The 5 s.t.e.p.s. Program is a conflict resolution lesson plan developed by the Lowery Institute and specifically designed to teach students about respect, anger management and positive relationships. Students are encouraged to deescalate potential conflict throught the adoption and use of this program focusing on five designated markers: stop, think, engage, process, and start over(s.t.e.p.s.). Theprogram is presented in a popular culturebased visual model that engages students to participate in the learning process and reinforce each of the steps. What community does the program serve and which schools are partners?the Lowery Institute is firmly situated withinatlanta's historic westside community and the atlanta public schools Washington high school cluster. Many of the students in the area are lowincome, africanamericans. The majority of students in the Institute partner schools receive free or reduced lunch. Partner schools and organizations currently include m. agnes jones elementary, mary bethune elementary, brown elementary school, forrest hills academy, and the walter young ymca of atlanta. Who are the jeli change agents (cas)?there is a rigorous selection process that determines the best and brightest students from metro atlanta universities and colleges. The majority of the ca applicant pool is concentrated in the atlanta university center (auc) and is reflective of the aps student population in the auc community. However, the program also incorporates students from Georgia state university, emory university, and agnes scott college. Ca's represent a variety of academic disciplines, as well as personal and professional accomplishments. At the beginning of the program, cas receive professional development specific to conflict resolution, peer mediation, mentoring, social activism and leadership. At the conclusion of training, theyare assigned to jeli partner schools and spend four days per week in 3045 minute engagements with a group of selected students. These engagements are coordinated by topic (anger management, identity, teamwork, bullying, prejudice, nonviolence, etc.) and accompanied bylesson plans. These groups rotate throughout the year, ensuring that all 5th grade students take part in the program. Are there any other components to the ca program? All cas engage in servant leadership training throughout the year, including workshops conductedby community leaders, special programs in honor of dr. & mrs. Lowery, and partner programs with local service organizations. In addition, students are encouraged to explore ways to bring positive impacts the the metroatlanta community through student led movement initiatives sponsored by the Lowery Institute. Past slm's have included race dialogues (undergraduate conversations on race), bring back our girls (nigerian kidnappings), dating unscripted (exploring healthy relationships), chivalry is not dead (soft skillsdevelopment for young black males). The ca's also attend 8 servant leadership classes conducted by community leaders. Finally, students have an opportunity to fellowship with a civil Rights icon and champion of social Justice, as dr. Lowery takes a personal interest in thestudents who carry his name as ca's. These engagements provide invaluable insight to our belief in the significant value derived from the intergenerational transfer of knowledge.