Schools (Pre-school - High School)STUDENT PROGRAMS
Storytelling, Bullying Prevention, African Dance, and Drumming Workshop Ama Karikari-Yawson, Esq. will perform her best-selling fable Sunne's Gift, accompanied by the captivating drumming. After the lively performance, Ama Karikari-Yawson will lead students through age appropriate questions surrounding Sunne's Gift and bullying. This program is customizable so organizations that have specific concerns with certain types of bullying such as economic bullying, racial bullying, or LGBT bullying can have the session tailored to their needs. Ama Karikari-Yawson will also incorporate research-backed questions, answers, and oaths with respect to bullying prevention. In the spirit of Sunne's Gift, students will be asked to share their gifts with the audience. Age Group: Customizable for PK - 12th Time: 45 - 120 minutes Your Most Empowering Personal Narrative Group Workshop (ages 8 and up) What is your gift and how will your gift transform the world? What obstacles do you expect to experience on your path to greatness? Using the story of Sunne's Gift, Ama Karikari-Yawson will engage in an intimate discussion of Sunne's personal narrative before and after the bullying experience. Ama Karikari-Yawson will then delve deeper into the definition of a personal narrative and the elements that personal narratives often contain. Students will then be asked to craft their own statement about themselves. Their essays will answer questions surrounding their special talents and the work that they have to do in order to make their dreams a reality. The session incorporates research that has been empirically proven to virtually eliminate gender and ethnic academic achievement gaps. For high school students, this program can be specifically tailored to address college application essays. Age Group: Customizable for 3rd Grade and up Time: 45 - 90 minutes Professional Development and Parent EnGagement SessionsThe Doll Test and Creating Empowering Environments For Diverse Students: Part 1
Do you have a culturally empowered classroom or home, or is it possible that your students or children are struggling with deep-seated feelings of cultural, racial, gender, physical, intellectual, economic, and or social inferiority and self-loathing? In this dynamic course, participants are acquainted with the historical and current versions of the doll test used in the landmark case Brown vs. Board of Education. The presenter discusses key findings from the studies and how they relate to children of all backgrounds. A comprehensive review of the various societal practices that lead to feelings self-loathing is given and step by step action items and recommendations are provided. This session incorporates journalism, legal analysis, social criticism, and storytelling. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes The Doll Test and Creating Empowering Classrooms For Diverse Students: Part 2 This second part of The Doll Test and Creating Empowering Classrooms for Diverse Students delves deeper into curriculum planning and actually walks educators through various lesson plans, books, and media materials aimed to empower diver se learners. Books and videos are provided to schools that schedule this program. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Social and Emotional Learning to Promote Overall Achievement The No Child Left Behind Act and other education legislation deal with academic standards, intellectual skills, accountability and frequent testing and assessment. Such legislation has had a profound impact on our school and home environments. The sometimes extreme and overwhelming focus on academic and intellectual skills neglects the fact that most studies have shown that emotional intelligence is a greater predictor of overall achievement than the intelligence quotient. Emotional intelligence is concerned with a person's ability to delay gratification, manage emotions, appreciate the perspectives of others, empathize with others' emotions, establish positive goals, make responsible decisions, and avoid negative anti-social behaviors. During this session, we will define emotional intelligence, discuss its importance, review established social emotional learning programs, and co-create everyday habits and rituals for teaching and raising emotionally intelligent children. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Nurturing Self-Esteem and Creating a Bully Free School and Home Environment It seems as if a month does not go by without news reports of bullying in school. These reported incidents of bullying, often based on race, gender, sexual orientation, learning differences, or simple non-conformity often have tragic, and even fatal consequences. In this session we will review the various forms of bullying that are occurring in schools across the United States. We will then answer the following questions. What do parents and educators need to know and do to keep their children safe? What is the role of the adults in taking action to stop bullying? How can we teach our youth to act with awareness, calm, respect and confidence? How might young people be coached with respect to how to set boundaries about disrespectful and unsafe behavior? We will also go beyond the simple discussion of anti-bullying strategies by actually co-creating school and home habits and rituals which perpetuate a culture of affirmation and self-esteem building. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Approaches to Learning to Ensure Every Child's Success This professional development program builds upon and adds to the Common Core standards with respect to Approaches to Learning by teaching educators how to effectively motivate young learners through engagement, creativity and imagination, curiosity and initiative, and persistence through various activities that appeal to auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. It will cover the following topics.Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Language and Literacy for Effective Communication This professional development course builds upon and adds to the New York City Common Core standards with respect to Communication, Language, and Literacy working with clients on how to effectively build vocabulary and verbal reasoning skills. Key components of the module are as follows. Motivation How to inspire early childhood speakers to express ideas verbally and non-verbally Background Knowledge How to encourage early childhood learners to connect their home, school, and literature experiences in order to create a solid base of background knowledge with respect to the world. Viewing How to encourage early childhood learners to be active observers in all activities including home-life, school, and experiences with books. Representing How to teach early childhood learners how to create visual, verbal, and other representations of their observations Vocabulary Closing the word gap: How to increase vocabulary acquisition through everyday experiences and enabling a broad range of experiences. English Language Arts and Literacy How to incorporate Common Core language arts into routine activities. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Physical Health and Development for Lifelong Wellness This professional development session builds upon and adds to the Common Core standards with respect to Physical Development and Health working with clients on how to effectively assess physical development and fitness, as well as inculcating good habits with respect to health, hygiene, and nutrition. Key components of the course are as follows. Physical Development How to ensure that students are developing adequately with respect to using senses, integrating sensory info with movement, demonstrating coordination and control of large muscles, combining sequences of large motor skills with and without equipment and demonstrating hand eye coordination. Physical Fitness How to instill a love of exercise in children to ensure proper large motor skill development and adequate strength. Health and Well-being The most important life long health and hygiene habits to instill in preschoolers. Health and Safety How to teach home and school safety rules to preschoolers. Nutrition How to create healthy nutrition and eating habits for lifelong health and weight management. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes Title IX and Eliminating Rape Culture on Campus (Professional Development Course) How can you help to eliminate rape and rape culture at your school and or on your campus? This interactive professional development course aims to provide an answer to this question through relevant and timely information. The course provides the definitions of various degrees of rape and sexual assault. Moreover, it challenges participants to think about how rape culture is perpetuated by educators, parents, and media professionals. Participants will be given legal case studies to analyze. Additionally, participants will fill out a questionnaire which evaluates their own school environments. Participants will leave with specific action items with respect to creating a healthier school atmosphere with respect to sexual assault. For parents and educators of younger students, this program focuses on building a culture of body autonomy. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 - 180 minutes |
Colleges and universitiesTitle IX and Eliminating Rape Culture on Campus (Student Sexual Responsibility Program)
It seems as if every week there is a story about sexual violence involving high school or college students. Videos and photos of high school and college students sexually assaulting their peers are going viral. Even elite institutions have experienced the the trend. The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the alleged mishandling of sexual assault claims at 55 schools including Harvard, Princeton, and The University of Virginia. What do young women and men need to know about rape and sexual assault in order to lessen their likelihood of becoming a victims or perpetrators? This session aims to answer that question in an informative and engaging manner that combines drama, legal analysis, university research, and investigative journalism. Students also have the option of taking a quiz and an oath of sexual responsibility.The program includes a performance of Dr. Salamishah Tillet's emotional poem, "Do You Know What It Feels Like to Be Raped?" by Harvard trained attorney and storyteller, Ama Karikari-Yawson. Age Group: 8th Grade – College Customizable between 45 minutes and 120 minutes Your Most Empowering Personal Narrative for Planning a Successful College and Life Career What is your gift and how will your gift transform the world? In this new age of automation, abundance, and outsourcing, you can't afford to not know the answer to that question. College tuition is not cheap. You need an action plan for getting the most of your college experience so that you can have the life career that you deserve. Using the story of Sunne's Gift, Ama Karikari-Yawson will engage in an intimate discussion of Sunne's personal narrative before and after the bullying experience. Ama Karikari-Yawson will then delve deeper into the definition of a personal narrative and the elements that personal narratives often contain. Students will then be asked to craft their own statement about themselves. Their essays will answer questions surrounding their special talents and the work that they have to do in order to make their dreams a reality. Additionally, Ama Karikari-Yawson discussed the action steps that need to be taken to make dreams realities. The session incorporates research that has been empirically proven to virtually eliminate gender and ethnic academic achievement gaps. For college students, this program can be specifically tailored to address graduate school application essays. Age Group: College Time: 45 - 180 minutes |
Corporations
Are You A Workplace Bully? (Cultural Sensitivity Training Course)
Are you a bully and you don't even know it? It is possible that the random comments that you say, the pronouns that you choose, and the assumptions that you “innocently”make are slowly and cumulatively making your co-workers, clients, and constituents unbearably uncomfortable. Moreover, is it possible that your behavior might cost you and your organization economic or reputational harm as injured parties silently leave your organization. Or worse, those injured individuals may share their experiences publicly and or take legal action. This dynamic session which incorporates social science, current events, legal cases, and role playing will help to provide participants with greater awareness of bullying, implicit bias, and microaggressions in order to create healthier work environments. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 minutes - 180 minutes Your Most Empowering Personal Narrative for Becoming A Leader What is your gift and how will your gift transform the world? Your organization needs you to be you desperately in order to survive in this new age of extreme competition, automation, abundance, and outsourcing. Using the story of Sunne's Gift, Ama Karikari-Yawson will engage in an intimate discussion about finding the courage to be you! . Participants will participate in a leadership development writing exercise which will define goals and action steps for achieving unprecedented leadership success. Age Group: Adult Time: 45 minutes - 120 minutes |
GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONSHow to Publish Your Book For Free in the next 90 days
Do you have a book idea that you have been yearning to bring to fruition? Are you concerned about sinking your own money into the book project and potentially losing money that you need for your family obligations? If that is the case, then this workshop is for you. Harvard trained attorney, author, and publisher, Ama Karikari-Yawson, Esq. will discuss her experience with self-publishing her best-selling fable Sunne's Gift and her second book series Kwanzaa Nana Is Coming to Town. You can do it too? Come to this workshop to find out and to develop your own step by step action plan with respect to self-publishing. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 minutes - 120 minutes 5 Steps to Quitting Your Day Job in 60 Days Are you hungry for more out of life? Do you have a deeply engrained passion which you have expressed through a side business that is completely unrelated to the job that you do from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days per week? Is your desire to pursue that business or passion project growing stronger each day, but you do not believe that you can quit your job because of the financial obligations that you have to yourself, your spouse, and or your children? In this dynamic session Ama Karikari-Yawson, Esq., the author of Sunne's Gift and the founder of Milestales Publishing and Education Consulting, will describe the five steps that she used to quit her six figure job as a corporate attorney for a large financial institution so that she could answer her calling to empower communities through storytelling. She will also help participants to craft their own personalized action plan. Age Group: Adult Time: 60 minutes - 120 minutes |