Communities of Courage:
Anti-Bullying Certification
A student-centric school climate initiative aimed at reducing bullying by engaging students as leaders, amplifying their voices in their communities and training educators on deepening community and bullying prevention.
The goal of Communities of Courage: Anti-Bullying Certification (CC-ABC) is to develop youth and educators as leaders in anti-bullying efforts in their own schools. Various forms of bullying are discussed in youth summits and showcases.
CC-ABC will guide them in team building, hosting youth summits, collaborating with other students sharing best practices with other schools, and disseminating information to help build awareness and encourage all community members to take action in the face of bullying.
Features of the CC-ABC process:
Certifications
- Educator Certification: This program guides 1 educator per school through the school climate improvement process, focused on anti-bullying, using the programs described below.
- Youth Certification: At least 5 students per school will participate in the year-long process, and receive student-level certifications.
Team Building in School
- Youth Leadership Team: NSCC coaches will guide the CC-ABC staff leader in the process of identifying, recruiting and onboarding youth to join the CC-ABC youth leadership team. This will also include developing a process for institutionalizing meeting times, activities and systems. Once teams are in place, the coach will support them in creating standing agendas and project-based learning activities.
- CC-ABC Schoolwide Team: NSCC coaches will also support school staff in recruiting and engaging with other staff responsible for positive school climate and anti-bullying activities. The staff member will be encouraged to disseminate information they learn from the certificate program, model social-emotional learning (SEL), and lead anti-bullying efforts in the school. Teams will create a plan for sustainability with the school-wide team and staff leaders.
Youth Summits
- Cross-School Gatherings: At least 5 schools will participate in CC-ABC, and 3 times each year, participating schools will host virtual youth summits. The events will be focused on developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to understand and respond to bullying, team-based problem solving, and leadership development.
Statistics from the pilot year 2020-2021:
