IRC’s Refugee Youth Program
ASTEP provides weekly after-school, weekend and summer arts education and empowerment programs for the International Rescue Committe’s Refugee Youth Program (RYP), which supports the personal growth, cultural adjustment, and education of multicultural refugee youth and helps them successfully transition into the US school system.
Through RYP, ASTEP provides enriching arts education classes which allow refugee youth to break down the barriers they face by improving abilities they require to create a new life for themselves in their new home:
- English language skills
- Academic abilities
- Social and emotional skills
- Community ties
- Capacity for self-expression
In addition, our team of 20-30 volunteer artists serve as trusted adult role models, mentors, and educators who guide refugee youth in making healthy decisions about their futures.
For the 2011-2012 academic year and summer, ASTEP supports four art programs for the Refugee Youth Program:
- Arts at the Refugee Youth Summer Academy (RYSA): ASTEP designs, implements, and oversee the creative arts programming at RYSA for all student levels, which includes sessions in visual art, dance, music, and story-telling. The program runs for 6 weeks during the summer.
- After School at Brooklyn International High School (BIHS): throughout the academic year, ASTEP provides youth with 4 hours of weekly creative arts workshops.
- The Saturday Learning Series: every Saturday throughout the academic year, ASTEP provides morning tutoring and homework help to students aged 5-19 at the IRC Headquarters in Manhattan, followed by afternoon creative arts and sports.
- Creative Arts at PS199: ASTEP provides homework help, mentoring, and creative arts activities for elementary students in Queens. Through weekly classes, ASTEP leads activities that engage all of the artistic modalities.
At the end of each academic semester, the programs at BIHS, SLS, and PS199 culmimate with a final performance and showcase for the students’ families and their community. This not only highlights the student’s work but also helps strengthen community networks.
If you are interested in learning more, please fill out our inquiry form.
International Rescue Committee is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees, and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through 22 IRC locations in cities across the United States, we help refugees resettle in the U.S. and become self-sufficient. www.rescue.org
Incarnation Children’s Center
ASTEP provides a 4-week arts-focused summer camp for the Incarnation Children’s Center, a pediatric facility for children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. ASTEP art camps engage students with interactive experiences that focus on developing a strong sense of community, deepening their capacity for creating, and exposing them to the performing arts. These young adults find that creativity and discipline are not mutually exclusive—their development in the classroom and onstage will be mirrored by the offstage development of improved work habits and commitment to their peers.
- The summer camp engages the ICC students in a series of creative arts classes and rehearsals as well as communication skills workshops from 12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., four days per week. This program will culminate in a performance for the ICC and ASTEP community.
If you are interested in learning more, please fill out our inquiry form.
Incarnation Children’s Center - the only licensed pediatric skilled nursing facility exclusively providing specialized care for children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. The ICC’s unique combination of expertise and support provides youths and their families with an interdisciplinary approach designed to meet the challenges of this illness and minimize its effects on the quality of life. The ICC’s main focus is on children who are too sick to be cared for at home but not ill enough to require hospitalization. The center houses around 34 youth from ages 1-21 years old. www.incarnationchildrenscenter.org
