Unique Methodology
Employing its unique methodology, Council for Unity’s innovative curriculum empowers youth with the skills to achieve success in their academic, vocational and social lives.
In a familial but highly structured environment, the Council for Unity model empowers program participants, administrators, faculty and non-instructional personnel to address and resolve issues of violence, cultural bias and motivation.
Participants in the program take ownership of the process through a series of lessons that mirror the conflicts they experience in their lives.
F.U.S.E.
Unity, inclusion and integration form the cornerstones for change in cultures where despair is the norm. Unity, inclusion and integration promote the democratic principles upon which our system of government was founded. Council for Unity programs transform lives by building a solid foundation for success: The Four Pillars of the F.U.S.E. approach. Council for Unity programs are designed to forge a network of schools, community organizations, law enforcement agencies and correctional institutions into a single collaborative entity that engage every facet of neighborhood and school life.
The Four Pillars of the F.U.S.E. approach
FAMILY – CFU members learn the appropriate behaviors in which to create a positive peer group that develops into the Council family. These skills enable them to function in a familial environment where they can grow and develop with the support of their peers. The trust and confidence engendered by this experience improves participants’ confidence and their academic achievement.
UNITY – Council for Unity teachers and members engage all constituencies within a school or community to provide an environment of tolerance and safety.
SELF-ESTEEM – The Council model focuses on developing the natural talents and abilities of participants by emphasizing the areas in which they are functional, not dysfunctional. As a result, children work at what they are good at, which results in a sense of achievement and a growing confidence in their capabilities. Our curriculum prepares them with a full menu of leadership and communication skills.
EMPOWERMENT – Our members become full partners with administrators and faculty to address collectively the issues that affect their learning environments. They take ownership of such problems as bullyism, gang involvement and discrimination that threaten their sense of security and academic outcomes. Representing the various constituencies within their school, they create an atmosphere of peer pressure resulting in positive changes in behavior. This outreach ends anonymity and fosters unanimity of purpose between and among all stakeholders in a building.
Dragon Slayer Syllabus
As part of the Dragon Slayer Syllabus, participants reenact the challenges of a hero who rises from poverty and discrimination to become a king. Through an analysis of this story, Council participants are invited to portray a youth who faces challenges similar to theirs but finds the resources within himself to overcome obstacles.
A United and Supportive Family
As in primitive societies of the past and now in gangs, new members must perform heroic acts to be admitted to the group. Most of these initiations were violent. The Council shifts the rite of passage to the required behavioral changes that enable a participant to become a member of a united and supportive family. The ability to listen, to accept differences, to speak constructively, to express feelings in a healthy manner, to be supportive and compassionate are all prerequisites to a meaningful familial life.
Our members are keenly aware that the support systems they require for growth and development will not be realized unless all members reflect these skills and abilities. To that end, all participants are given an induction manual in which their interpersonal goals are tracked for an entire year. These abilities are monitored and assessed by our teachers, who administer the program, and our site coordinators to ensure that all candidates meet these requirements. An elaborate induction ceremony is hosted every year for all candidates who meet these prerequisites. At this event they recite the Council pledge and are formally received into the Council family for life.
