We See The World Global Peer Mentoring Project is a collaboration between Communities in Schools of New Jersey Mentoring Success Center and YouthWorks CIC in Belfast, Ireland. Students grades 9-11 who reside in Maplewood South Orange are eligible to participate in this wonderful program which will bring together youth from across the globe. This initiative will allow and encourage students to share experiences and learn through video conferencing, social media video and other technology.

Thomas Owens of Communities in Schools of New Jersey and Stephen Hughes of Belfast, Ireland met nine months ago when Stephen’s YouthWorks team visited Newark. Finding common ground, both were committed to creating an innovative and engaging youth project using the powerful tools of technology. Together they launched “We See The World” and, through HK Community Fund (a community based charity located in Maplewood), have invited the youth of Maplewood and South Orange to join the pilot project which launched on September 21, 2010 joining youth from Belfast, Ireland; Newark, New Jersey; Phoenix, Arizona and Dayton, Ohio.

According to Owens, every six weeks, all the students in the program come together in a video-conference town hall meeting and discuss various topics. One topic for the meeting is then selected by a “board” under the guidance of Owens. The students go off in their groups, armed with a flip camera, to create a 3-5 minute video on the chosen topic. The videos are then viewed by the leaders and broken down and also posted to the website. The kids are brought together again in another video-conference to discuss the results. New topics will be introduced every six weeks, each culminating in a “virtual town hall” with all participants.

Tom Kerns, founder and president of the HK Community Fund, and Director Stephanie Jelley of the HK Foundations Center of Maplewood & South Orange are both excited and honored that the youth of our community have been selected as one of the pilot cities. “It is an honor that they have selected our youth.”, said Kerns. “Our diverse population and proximity to New York City make the youth of Maplewood South Orange and ideal group to participate in this global program. This is a great opportunity for our youth to find out what we all have in common, instead of focusing on what divides us. It is another way for our youth to continue to enhance their sense of self and to develop their sense of belonging.”

Jelley is excited about the opportunity for our youth to engage in thought provoking dialogue; “It is my hope that this program will enhance our youth’s understanding of the many challenges and issues all youth face in the 21st Century. Sharing their lives through intellectual discourse will, not only help make our youth aware of the concerns of others around the globe, it will give them a chance to tell their stories”. She goes on to say; “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our youth can find commonality rather than to focus on the differences that too often leads to bigotry. When we find what we have in common, acceptance is not far behind.”

Students will meet each Wednesday to discuss the topics posted under the guidance of Michele Jelley, Professor of English Rutgers, Newark and will develop video content for upload and participation in the project.

With the site launch (currently in beta testing) scheduled for December 2010, youth residing in Maplewood and South Orange are encouraged to visit The Center or contact programs@mwsohkfc.org for further details of this program. Those who show an interest in this project will be interviewed and 10 students will be selected to participate. It is anticipated that the 10 dedicated students will be selected by December 10th. The criteria for eligibility are:
• eligibility to the South Orange-Maplewood school district (you do not need to be enrolled in the district, just eligible to do so)
• high school students only (grades 9, 10 and 11)
• the willingness and ability to give 35 hours of community service over the course of the school year

The Center is conveniently located at 515 Valley Street, Suite 130, Maplewood