The Kite Zine is a mentorship, story-telling program inside New York's youth detention centers and jails (Rikers, Horizons Crossroads and ACS Close to Home, None-secure and Secure Placement Facilities). The work produced in our class is later published in a magazine that is distributed to the youth's families and circulated inside the center.
Many of my students have dropped out or are more interested in getting a GED than completing high school.
This interruption in education can be life-threatening. We bridge the gap, raising the bar, and provoking our population to think critically, engage socially, and know oneself fully. We show these students what it means to own a voice, their voices, and we put them together to make a statement that interruption is not a finale. I take care to teach them the foundational writing skills that they would otherwise miss out on completely.
My Project
We want to ensure that all our students have something to write with and give them something to stimulate their minds. We reward participation by giving reading materials that help our young students explore and identify the systemic issues that may have resulted in their incarceration.
We believe stories influence people more than statistics ever could and providing books that exemplify this are key.
Students learn how telling their stories allows them to heal while also having the power to heal and teach those around them.
We help students identify what they have been through in the past so they can harness the power to reshape their future. Something as simple as journaling has helped our students break through unhealthy habits--and it especially helped me, their teacher, having been incarcerated myself as a teen. But things to write and learn with are rarely available without programs like ours.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
BestSelf Co. The SELF Journal - Planner 2019-2020 - Monthly, Weekly, Daily Planner - Increase Productivity and Happiness - Undated Hardcover - Navy
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10
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5
$199.95
Between the World and Me
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$12.89
12
$154.68
EMITEC Leather Composition Journal Notebook - Classic A5 Wide Ruled Writing Subject Notepad Colorful Hardcover Travel Diary Journals Notebook for Students 100 Sheets/Random Color Set of 3
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$15.95
9
$143.55
Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration
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$20.19
5
$100.95
Comix Wide Ruled Composition Notebook 9.75" x 7.5" with Hard Cover, 100 Sheets 8 Packs Assorted 4 Colors (C9000-8)
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$28.99
3
$86.97
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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$16.19
5
$80.95
Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People's Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time
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$12.48
6
$74.88
Composition Notebook: Cute Wide Ruled Paper Notebook Journal | Wide Blank Lined Workbook for Teens Kids Students Girls for Home School College for Writing Notes | Trendy Acrylic Rose Gold Marble Print
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$4.99
15
$74.85
Lang Field Guide 2020 Two Year Planner (20991071101)
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$7.99
9
$71.91
Criminology: The Essentials
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$70.67
1
$70.67
Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law
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$45.00
1
$45.00
Falling Back: Incarceration and Transitions to Adulthood among Urban Youth (Critical Issues in Crime and Society)
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$33.95
1
$33.95
Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration-and How to Achieve Real Reform
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$27.00
1
$27.00
Comix Composition Book-Notebooks-Wide Ruled Paper 9.75" x 7.5",100 Sheets (Stary Sky) C9000J (6)
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1
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$19.99
1
$19.99
Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys (New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law)
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$19.69
1
$19.69
Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court
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$18.00
1
$18.00
Boy With A Knife: A Story of Murder, Remorse, and a Prisoner's Fight for Justice
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$17.95
1
$17.95
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
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$15.46
1
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The Art of Voice: Poetic Principles and Practice
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$15.28
1
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Street Life: Poverty, Gangs, and a Ph.D.
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$15.00
1
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Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores
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$13.26
1
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Haiku: The Last Poems of an American Icon
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$13.22
1
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The Ways of White Folks: Stories (Vintage Classics)
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$12.51
1
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More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
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$11.96
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Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes
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A Colony in a Nation
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$10.16
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Selected Poems of Langston Hughes: A Classic Collection of Poems by a Master of American Verse (Vintage Classics)
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$9.76
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The Mis-education of the Negro
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The Mis-Education of the Negro
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The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Thrift Editions)
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$5.00
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Materials cost
$1,637.46
Vendor shipping charges
$3.99
Sales tax
$0.00
3rd party payment processing fee
$24.56
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$1,696.01
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$299.30
Total project goal
$1,995.31
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$1,995.31
6 Donors
-$1,938.00
Donations toward project cost
-$1,647.30
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
-$290.70
match offer
-$57.31
Match offer toward project cost
-$48.71
Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Koster and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.