SCG News

Cherry Creek Diversity Conference

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 13:13:00 -0700

Seeking Common Ground has participated in the annual Cherry Creek Diversity Conference since 2009. Over 80 schools and organizations participate in this event. Since 2009, SCG has led a workshop entitled "Building Bridges for Peace: Teens Create Change" with over 50 high school students in attendance. The workshop begins with a "Perspective Squares" activity in which students begin to look at how different people have different perspectives-- and that doesn't mean one person is right or wrong!

After watching the Architects of Peace video, students engage in micro labs where they are all given equal time and space to share their thoughts on various topics including identity, conflict, and peace. The students learn that peaceful communication can be challenging, but is necessary and effective in creating change and building bridges with those who have different perspectives and come from various life experiences.

Every workshop ends with three BBfP participants and one LIT sharing their experiences of going through the BBfP program and what they are currently doing to be active leaders in their communities. The students are able to ask the participants and LIT questions and are provided information on getting involved in both BBfP and Denver P.E.A.C.E.

2011 Circles of Change 6th Annual Awards Breakfast (please visit again soon for more COC pictures and highlights)

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:43:07 -0600

Donate by Dining at Foolish Craig’s in Boulder BBfP Participant Film Screening & Celebration!

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:56:17 -0600

Join Seeking Common Ground staff and American, Israeli and Palestinian Building Bridges for Peace program alumni and participants for dinner at Foolish Craig’s Café in Boulder.

5:00-9:00pm, Tuesday, July 19th
Foolish Craig's Cafe
1611 Pearl St. Boulder, 303.247.9383

Foolish Craig’s Cafe will donate 20% of all proceeds to Seeking Common Ground.
Thank you Foolish Craig’s Cafe for your support!

7:00-9:00pm, Starz Film Center
900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, 80204

See what participants have to say about their program experience on film! A highlight of this year's summer intensive is an ambitious 3-day filmmaking institute designed to support participants in finding their voice and sharing their ideas with the wider community. Join us for the Denver film premier and Q&A with the filmmakers followed by a celebration reception.

Space is limited, reservations required, please RSVP here. The event is free with a suggested donation of $10 for the general public.

Denver Center for International Studies Mask Project

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:04:31 -0600

Although international in scope, Seeking Common Ground (SCG) continuously strives to foster a meaningful, local impact here in Denver. SCG was presented with the distinguished opportunity and privilege to conduct a workshop at Denver Center for International Studies’ (DCIS) with the sophomore class in March. Over the span of three weeks, SCG worked with a total of 74 students from three cross-culture classes. Facilitators from SCG introduced the Mask Project—a creative arts workshop that has been adapted from SCG’s best practices model—to the tenth grade class.

The Mask Project is designed to create a safe space, and invite participants to share their personal thoughts and feelings. The Mask Project involves three stages, which include creating the mask, decorating the mask and sharing the mask. Through this process, participants are encouraged to empathize with their classmates as they explore the meaning behind individual’s interpretations of how the world sees us as well as how we see ourselves. In addition to the Mask Project, the SCG facilitators integrated other prevalent activities applied to SCG’s life changing work. The elements of these various activities include, but are certainly not limited to, intentional listening, communication, establishing trust and explore issues of identity.

After the project was completed, a number of participants commented on how much closer the workshop brought them to fellow classmates, and allowed for deeper understanding of similarities and differences. SCG recognizes the value of building and maintaining relationships in the Denver community, and is looking forward to continuing a relationship with DCIS. Thank you to all who were involved in organizing and participating in this successful workshop.

Building Bridges for Peace: US 2nd Follow-up Retreat

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:59:56 -0600

In March, the 2010-2011 Building Bridges for Peace US Home Group gathered in Denver, Colorado for the second retreat of their yearlong follow-up program. Participants spent the weekend in workshops exploring the theme Leadership: Immigration as a Case Study. As a current area of debate both nationally and locally, the topic of immigration served as a springboard for examining diverse perspectives. It provided our American teens with the opportunity to apply the peacebuilding framework and skills, which they learned this summer in the context of conflict in the Middle East, to a domestic conflict.

In addition to leadership workshops, participants enjoyed a delicious breakfast at The Comfort Cafe an establishment founded by three former hospice workers who pursued their vision of a healthier community by opening a nonprofit community kitchen in Northwest Denver. Programming also included an informative interactive dialogue with guest speaker Joe Wismann-Horther, Integration Program Supervisor of the Colorado Refugee Services Program at the Colorado Department of Human Services. Our teens expressed these experiences as highly valuable to their continuing process and development of peacebuilding and leadership skills.

Upon returning home, participants prepare for the third and final follow-up retreat (in May) by wrapping up their individual projects.

Pathmakers 2011: Scott Kinnamon

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:35:32 -0700

During the 2010 Building Bridges for Peace sumer intensive, Scott and his assistant Tiffany, educated and inspired the Leaders In Training (LIT) through a 3-day film workshop. The LITs created short films that allowed them to express their perspectives on cross-community issues including the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Scott was recently featured in Pathmakers 2011, a forum that honors extraordinary people that help us rethink traditional theatre, music, painting, and education.

Click here to read The Denver Post article.

2011 Adult Study Trip Peace, Empowerment & Change

Fri, 4 Mar 2011 11:02:48 -0700

In February 2011, Seeking Common Ground (SCG) completed its 3rd annual Adult Study Trip for Peace, Empowerment, and Change. The trip offered an in-depth study about the complexities of Israeli and Palestinian societies and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The adult participants included men and women from across the U.S. and was was led by SCG’s founder Melodye Feldman and alumni of SCG’s Building Bridges for Peace program.

The Study Trip included a plethora of site visits with organizations in both the West Bank and Israel. The trip examined issues in the Negev with Bedouin communities, developing towns, and the conflict along the border of Gaza. The adult participants were able to attend the 1st International Conference, Gaza-Sderot: Moving from Crisis to Sustainability. Traveling to northern Israel and visiting the mixed Arab/Jewish communities, the participants learned about creating a civil society within the State of Israel. In Jerusalem, the participants learned about the city and its place as the epicenter of the conflict. Then with visiting a number of women’s social and economic empowerment programs, the participants were able to learn about the multitude of ways in which people and organizations on the ground are implementing change. Most of all, the Study Trip included an in-depth understanding of peace, empowerment and change across all borders.

For more information about the next Adult Study Trip, please visit our page by clicking here.

A Berkeley High Screening of My So-Called Enemy

Tue, 1 Mar 2011 10:56:22 -0700

When: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 4:00 to 6:00 pm

Where: The Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Berkeley High School
1980 Allston Way, Berkeley

Tickets: Available at the door and on Brownpapertickets.com
$8 for students and seniors, sliding scale of $10 and up for
adults

☀ In July 2002, 22 Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls traveled to the United States to participate in the Building Bridges for Peace leadership program. “My So–Called Enemy” follows the stories of six of the young women and poignantly explores how the experience of knowing their “enemies” as human beings meets with the realities of their lives at home over the next 7 years.

☀ In April 2011, a group of 13 Berkeley teens will make their own trip to the Middle East for 10 days, in partnership with the non-profit organization Seeking Common Ground, creator of the Building Bridges for Peace program. The trip’s purpose is to foster a deeper understanding of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and to teach leadership skills to our youth in an effort to make peace in both the Middle East and in our own communities.

Come to the screening of “My So–Called Enemy” to make this trip possible!

For more information about Seeking Common Ground, visit www.s-c-g.org

Building Bridges-Berkeley 1st Retreat

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:33:15 -0700

The group of Berkley High School Communication Arts and Science students involved in the Kyle Project have some differences, but one thing in common: a desire to honor the memory of Kyle Harty Strang, who passed away earlier this year in a car crash. The group consisted mostly of Seniors but also several Juniors, and mostly of Kyle's friends but also of several people who did not know him. We began the weekend with a series of icebreakers to build group cohesion, which happened very easily. Later in the evening we took time to share reasons for participating in the Kyle Project, and it was soon quite evident that the shared grief has led to some very deep relationships.

On the second day we began to discuss the labels, categories, and dynamics that the students see happening at their school. Many students expressed that these sorts of questions were familiar, and that living in Berkeley meant that they were used to giving the "right" responses. By the end of the day, we were able to dig beneath the "right" responses and begin uncovering some deeper truths. We also used masks and writing exercises to share internal and external selves.

On day three, we did some closing activities to solidify the sense of cohesion. By the end, the comfort with which students shared in grief, revealed their inner selves, and reflected on their school had congealed into a real sense of community.

-Berkeley Program Team

Seeking Common Ground and Berkeley High School

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 11:26:53 -0600

Seeking Common Ground (SCG) is excited to announce the beginning of a new partnership with Berkeley High School’s Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS) small school in Berkeley, California (www.bhs.berkeley.net). Inspired by the passionate and unflagging aspirations of a recently deceased classmate, Kyle Harty Strang, approximately 20 students will work to develop conflict resolution skills and their abilities to work for positive personal and social change. This joint initiative between SCG and CAS, the Kyle Harty Stang Leadership Development Program, will initially consist of four key components: weekend retreats, service learning projects, a film component, and an international encounter trip (www.thekyleproject.blogspot.com) scheduled for April 2011.

The launch of the Kyle Harty Strang Leadership Development Program and the 2011 Trip to the Middle East will be the first steps in an ongoing partnership between Berkeley High School (BHS) and Seeking Common Ground, and the ongoing provision of leadership development opportunities in the context of existing BHS programs. Leadership development activities will be designed specifically for the BHS students and their own experiences of antagonistic relationships around race, ethnicity, and social class. The April 2011 10-day trip to the Middle East will be similar to the recent SCG Middle East Encounter Trip, which was led and facilitated by SCG alumni of the Building Bridges for Peace program. Seeking Common Ground is thrilled to partner with BHS and continue our work to create agents of change in our home communities across the country.