Services

ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS

The Boys Are Talking Forum
Because it's clear that young men are in a crisis, we as educators, policy makers, parents, school designers, and community activists design "intervention" programs with the best intentions. However, we often get frustrated with the lack of results or outright failure of some of our initiatives when the outcomes are not what we expected. We may find that the problem is in our planning. Too often we plan initiatives for young men without consulting the young men themselves. "The Boys Are Talking" Forum is designed to give the young men a seat at the table with those who design programs, schools, and policies affecting them. The forum provides a platform for young men to share and describe the structures, in our schools and communities, that have helped them reach their goals and achieve success, as well as those structures that have hindered them.

Past Forums Have Been Held:
1. Potter's House of Denver - 2016
2. Smokey Hill High School - 2017- (In Partnership With Cherry Creek Schools)
3. University of Colorado Denver - 2018 - (In Partnership With My Brothers Keeper, UCD, Office of Childrens Affairs, and Operation Hope)
4. University of Colorado Denver - 2019 (Partners to be announced at a later date)

CAPACITY BUILDING

FOR YOUNG MEN (K-12)

A. Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program

What is the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program?
Empowered Ambition Youth Development (EAYD) Program for Young Men is a culturally sensitive character development and leadership curriculum that focuses on future planning, financial literacy, and the arts to foster empowerment and a greater sense of hope and increased self-awareness. The EAYD Program engages young men in deep, reflective work using restorative practices, conflict resolution, mentoring, and goal setting practices. EAYD provides the young men positive role models through mentoring that allow them to envision a range of future trajectories that extend beyond everyday stereotypes.

What is the goal of the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program?
The overarching goal of our EAYD Program is to assist our young men in increasing their capacity to be better stewards of their choices, careers, and ultimately their lives, while developing into informed young men and positive role models who have a stronger, more positive self-identity to guide their choices and their interactions with others.

How is the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program delivered?
Addressing the school to prison pipeline, at the intersection of education and the juvenile justice systems, the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program is delivered over 18, 60-minute coach led sessions, field trips, and guest speakers. The EAYD Program can be implemented in middle and high schools through a dedicated class, an after school intervention course by our staff or your staff, or as part of an existing class curriculum in collaboration with the classroom teacher. As a juvenile diversion program, the EAYD Program can delivered by our trained professionals over 18 sessions in our training location (Metro Denver Area only). Participants are also matched with a mentor for the duration of the entire course using our e-mentoring framework designed using the Elements of Effective Practices for Mentoring designed by the National Mentoring Partnership.

What research is the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program based on?
Our EAYD Program is designed on the pillars of Restorative Justice, Character Development, and Therapeutic Engagement.

A. Character Development: EAYD draws upon the powerful and overwhelming research that building self-efficacy, responsibility, and goal setting are critical to behaviors that are productive and progressive.
B. Restorative Justice: EAYD also uses the framework of the Restorative Justice approach where taking responsibility for one’s actions and repairing and valuing relationships is an invaluable part of becoming a better steward of one’s life.
C. Therapeutic Engagement: With an eye towards proven therapeutic practices that are sensitive to the traumas our participants may have encountered, EAYD focuses on helping to build capacity and tools to successfully navigate the challenges of life beyond our program.

Young men who have participated in EAYD have reported increased feelings of self-efficacy and self-esteem.

B. STARS Mentoring Program
This program offers students a coordinated mentoring program creating the opportunity for relationships to be built with positive role models. It not only helps youth with tools as they go through challenges, but makes achieving healthy relationships and understanding success sequencing priorities (the order in which students finish school, go on to higher learning/trade skill school, or become employed, then create families). Because of positive peer role models, leadership development, and future focus, STARS Mentoring program and the related wrap around services (assemblies/workshops, community trainings, parent education, a mentor training one-day summit and the national conference) make the pursuit of best possible futures for teens more realistic and attainable.

The core elements of STARS are:

Self-Awareness - teens become aware of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, resources and challenges and learn to more effectively manage these aspects of their lives
Future Focus - teens learn that every decision they make today both positive and negative has an impact on their tomorrow (future)
MentorLife - teens learn to always have someone investing in them in a mentor role, and then to pay it forward by investing in others.

What parents are saying about the impact of this program
a. The Service Project was very instrumental in opening my son's understanding of other people's struggles.
b. I notice that my son is learning how to overcome his fears better.
c. I appreciate everything about the program. My son is not into sports, art, or music so this has been a perfect outlet for him.
d. I have noticed how my son has become more confident and expresses himself more.
e. I'm a single parent that works a lot. I am grateful for the many opportunities for my son to get out and experience leadership and team events. It is an honor for him to be selected to do things like being a program ambassador.

C. Sims-Fayola Summer Bridge Leadership Camp (SUMMER 2020)
The Sims-Fayola Summer Bridge Leadership Camp (FLC) for young men is a 2-week leadership camp for young men of color in grades 6th, 7th, and 8th by the Sims-Fayola Foundation. The Sims-Fayola Foundation’s mission is to improve the life-outcomes of urban males through direct programming, partnerships, and by increasing the capacity of those who serve them. The Sims-Fayola Foundation has served over 8000 students and 2000 educators in the past 5 years in connection with our mission to improve the life outcomes of urban males.

It is no secret that Black and Latino males are struggling in US schools as they are currently structured. Students of color are markedly underrepresented in the top 25th percentile of students. With graduation rates declining and drop-out rates, suspensions, and enrollment in special education programs increasing, we recognize the challenge and humbly accepts the responsibility of being part of the movement to improve the educational and social outcomes for this student population.

The goals of FLC is to provide leadership training, academic support in reading and math, STEM exposure, the performing arts, and financial literacy workshops to our young men. The Sims-Fayola Foundation will partner with local community, business, and political leaders, other non-profits like Operation Hope, the Jekyl Foundation, and the Denver Center for Performing Arts to deliver a curriculum that directly addresses summer learning loss, lack of exposure to the arts, individualized instructional support, mentorship, and lack of arts exposure to young men of color.

The 2-week camp will deliver 50 sixty-minute workshops in these targeted areas over a two-week timeframe. The camp will include time for lunch, brain breaks, and physical fitness for our young men.

FOR EDUCATORS

A. Working With Boys of Color Workshops:
Over five, half-day learning workshops, educators will focus on increasing their understanding of working with young men of color in a traditional school setting as well as other social structures. The focus areas will be inclusive of the four multi-dimensional areas of academic engagement, behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and affective engagement. Each of the learning workshops will also include restorative mediation techniques that educators and school leaders can access when engaging with young men of color. These workshops will also equip Deans of Students with male specific strategies to include in their coaching and support of teachers in the areas of Dealing with Power Struggles in the Classroom, Positive Thinking in Difficult Situations, and Building Relationships with Challenging Students.

Workshop Topics
Working With Boys of Color: An Issue of Equity
Culture, the Brain and How Boys Learn
Creating the Ultimate Classroom for Boys of Color

What participants are saying about this workshop
a. Insightful work on how the education system impacts boys of color.
b. Great workshop, very powerful....should be a full session next time.
c. This is great exposure of how to engage boys of color, especially for schools.
d. Any opportunity to strengthen our youth, particularly young men of color should not only be embraced, but taken advantage of in order to make a true difference.
e. The workshop elevates and engages with the topics of boys and young men of color in a dynamic, challenging, and reflective way. It dispelled beliefs, opened dialogue, and made me want to change my own behavior.

B. Hardwired By Nature: School Design Through An Equity Lens:
This full-day, highly active and engaging equity workshop is designed to increase educator’s awareness of equity opportunities in the learning experiences of students of color. During this workshop, educators take a deeper look at systemic inequalities, traditional educator dispositions about students of color, and community systems that affect the educational outcomes of students of color. This workshop also identifies the characteristics of students of color that are inherent parts of their culture that can add value to their learning experiences in schools. This is a powerful workshop that has impacted many teachers, administrators, and policy makers. It is designed to be an addition to your toolbox of best instructional strategies. This is not a “how to teach students of color kit;” instead this workshop is about using culture to enhance school design and learning experiences to improve the academic and social outcomes of students of color. Using videos, movement based activities, songs, laughter, and sometimes tears, this workshop will increase the capacity of educators who serve students of color to improve the outcomes of this group by creating environments that are designed through an equity lens. Ultimately, it is a workshop aimed at improving the capacity of educators to ensure equity is considered in every decision.

What participants are saying about this workshop
a. This is SO necessary! What an enlightening and powerful opportunity.
b. Amazing, fun and real! This is one for everybody!
c. This workshop highlighted the importance of mentors recognizing that cultural differences must be acknowledged within the mentor/mentee relationship.
d. This training was enlightening, thought-provoking, and challenging!
e. Tough but necessary workshop. You will be challenged, but it's worth it!
f. Acknowledge your privilege, Recognize your power, but understand the amazing opportunity you have to help a youth better themselves.

C. Sims-Fayola Foundation Equity Academy (NEW FOR FALL 2019 - LIMTED TO 25 PER COHORT)
Our Goal: The Sims-Fayola Foundation Equity Academy (SFFEA) is designed to increase the capacity of educators and advocates to deliver quality learning experiences for students of color and building authentic relationships through an equity lens.

Our Belief and Why: We believe that equity work is tough work because it challenges our personal assumptions and beliefs about others. Robert Allen, in his best-selling book, “As A Man Thinketh” said “people often want change unless the change involves them.” That speaks to how challenging it can be to examine our own dispositions to something as in your face as equity. Because this work is vital to the outcome of all students, especially our students of color, we believe that periodic workshops will not yield the impact that’s needed for lasting change. Most school districts and schools offer teachers one-shot professional development “trainings” with little or no support. Our intent with SFFEA is to provide an opportunity for educators to be immersed in prolonged development and support to become culturally relevant educators who can support and facilitate rigorous cognitive development of students of color. Therefore, in addition to our half and full day workshops, we have created an avenue for sustained engagement and coaching. That avenue is the Sims-Fayola Foundation Equity Academy.

What we address: Over 12 face-to-face or online sessions, in a cohort model, we increase the capacity of educators to deliver a quality learning experience, through an equity and cultural lens, that help students of color build intellective capacity and become independent learners. We also have a leadership track within the sessions specifically for school administrators and teacher leaders with the same goal in mind but is also inclusive of understanding their leadership style and how it shows up as a hinderance or asset to student learning. Each participant will identify up to 3 key new skills to implement in their classroom or school during the 12-week course to get support on from the Sims-Fayola Foundation.

What we build capacity in:

Pedagogy and Assessment Through an Equity Lens
Planning and Equity Through an Equity Lens
Creating a Classroom or Building Culture Through an Equity Lens
Relationship Building Through an Equity Lens
The Brain-Culture Connection Through an Equity Lens (HOW TO GET THE GAINS YOU KNOW THEY CAN ACHIEVE)

* Schedule a call for more information and for rates - 720-557-8443

Click Here To Register

After you register, you will be sent a link to pay for the course

SCHOOL DESIGN AND SUPPORT

Charter School Development Support
We provide a variety of services to support the development and growth of high quality charter schools. Our new school development services are designed to support planning efforts from the time founding groups first meet, through a school's first year of operation. Although we are based in Denver, our work and clients take us all over the country. We can structure support plans that include our consultants being on-site as well as using online support through Zoom and Skype technology.

Specifically, we offer support in the areas of:

Charter application writing and review
Budget development
501c3 application writing
Logo and website development
Marketing plan
Student and teacher recruitment plans
Financial policies and procedures development
Grant writing
Leadership development and coaching
Curriculum and assessment development
Using data and assessment
School culture development
Student discipline plan
Parent engagement plan
Board recruitment and development
Community and stakeholder engagement plans
Other areas that pertain to charter development.

We would love to partner with your group to help launch your new school or support your existing school. To inquire about these services, please reach out to us at info@sffoundation.org

If you'd like to have a conversation about partnering with us to design your school, please email us at info@sffoundation.org to set up an appointment with one of our school design members.