Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers Inc

SEE SCHEDULE O FOR DESCRIPTION OF MOST SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES.

TEACHER TRAINING, SCHOOL CONSULTATION AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENTIN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE OFFICE OF QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT DONOVAN RICHARDS JR., IN 2022 WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR TRANSFORMATIVE COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES AWARDS (CCA) PROGRAM -- WHICH OFFERS CASH PRIZES TO SCHOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE STUDENT PROJECTS THAT PROMOTE RESPECT FOR ALL, ANIMAL PROTECTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY -- TO QUEENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 30. RECOGNIZING THAT DISTRICT 30 IS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING, MOST HIGH-NEED, AND MOST DIVERSE DISTRICTS IN NYC AND THAT MORE THAN 70% OF ITS STUDENTS ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, THIS YEAR'S THEME WAS "FOOD JUSTICE FOR ALL." EIGHT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS COLLECTIVELY SERVING OVER 4,200 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THIS YEAR'S PROGRAM. FOUR FINALIST SCHOOLS COMPETED FOR CASH PRIZES OF $4,000 (1ST), AWARDED TO PS 84; $2,500 (2ND), AWARDED TO PS 234; $1,000 (3RD), AWARDED TO RENAISSANCE CHARTER SCHOOL; AND AN ADDITIONAL FOOD JUSTICE HERO AWARD OF $500, AWARDED TO PS 151. WE ARE PARTNERING WITH COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS IN CHICAGO (CISC) AND FACTORY FARMING AWARENESS COALITION (FFAC) TO EXPAND OUR FOOD JUSTICE-THEMED CCA PROGRAM TO CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOLS FOR THE 2022-23 YEAR. WE ALSO DEVELOPED A NEW 2-CREDIT 30-HOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE, "SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY: AN EQUITY APPROACH TO BRINGING SEL INTO SERVICE LEARNING GOALS AND PRACTICES," WHICH WAS APPROVED BY NYC DOE AS A CREDIT-BEARING MODULE THAT QUALIFIES SCHOOLTEACHERS TOWARD A SALARY DIFFERENTIAL. WE PILOTED THE COURSE AS AN EDUCATIONAL PARTNER WITH DOE DURING THE FALL TERM AND ARE OFFERING THE COURSE AGAIN IN SPRING 2023.WE TRAINED TWO VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHERS TO OFFER OUR STUDENT PROGRAMS IN NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ADDITIONALLY, WE CONDUCTED A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP AT THE ROCHELLE LEE TEACHER AWARD SUMMER INSTITUTE OF WORKING IN THE SCHOOLS-CHICAGO. WE ALSO PRESENTED TO AUDIENCES OF HUMANE EDUCATORS AT THE 2022 EDUCATORS FOR ANIMALS CONFERENCE AND ON A PANEL HOSTED BY THE WHALE SANCTUARY PROJECT.WE CONTINUED TO OFFER GUIDANCE TO MEMBERS OF OUR HEART NETWORK, SUPPORTING THE EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT ANIMAL SHELTERS, RESCUE GROUPS, AND SANCTUARIES NATIONWIDE. MEMBERS RECEIVED ACCESS TO CUSTOMIZED RESOURCES FROM OUR LIBRARY OF LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES, TIPS AND TOOLS TO SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS, AND MODERATED CONTENT ON THE MADDIE'S FUND ONLINE COMMUNITY PLATFORM.

MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND ADVOCACY A KEY COMPONENT OF OUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO PROMOTE HUMANE EDUCATION AND IMPROVE COMPLIANCE WITH THE NEW YORK STATE HUMANE EDUCATION LAW WAS RAISING AWARENESS OF THE MANY BENEFITS THAT HUMANE EDUCATION OFFERS AND PROVIDING FREE ACCESS TO OUR TEACHING RESOURCES ACROSS A VARIETY OF WEB-BASED PLATFORMS. IN ADDITION TO WORKING DIRECTLY WITH LEGISLATORS, WE WERE ABLE TO REACH LEGAL PROFESSIONALS INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT HUMANE EDUCATION BY PRESENTING FOR THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD AND NY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION.WE CONTINUED TO MARKET HEART'S RESOURCES TO GAIN AS WIDE AN AUDIENCE FOR OUR MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE AND TO CONTRACT WITH A SERVICE TO MANAGE OUR GOOGLE AD GRANT, THE LEADING SOURCE OF OUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC. WE ALSO OPTIMIZED OUR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA, DEDICATING STAFF TIME TOWARD SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES AND REGULARLY POSTING BLOGS ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.HEART'S KINDNESS FOR ALL RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHERS SERVING PRESCHOOL STUDENTS IN NEED AT HEAD START PROGRAMS, CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA LOS ANGELES (VOALA) AND SOCIAL COMPASSION, IS INTENDED TO INCREASE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORS, COMPASSION, AND EMPATHY, AND TO BUILD UNDERSTANDING OF ANIMALS, RESPONSIBLE ANIMAL CARE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. IN 2022, HEART WORKED WITH THE WEARETEACHERS BRAND OF MDR -- A DIVISION OF DUN & BRADSTREET WITH A HIGHLY ENGAGED NATIONWIDE AUDIENCE OF EDUCATORS ACROSS ALL GRADE LEVELS -- TO CRAFT A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ARTICLE FOCUSED ON WAYS TO TEACH CHILDREN AT THE PRE-K 1ST GRADE LEVEL TO BUILD KINDNESS SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM AND AT HOME. THE ARTICLE WAS DIRECTED TO APPROXIMATELY 50,000 MDR CONTACTS IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SPACE, LARGELY IN THE NYC AND LA AREAS, AND WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR ONE YEAR. OUR GOALS WITH THIS CAMPAIGN WERE TO BUILD AWARENESS OF HEART AMONG EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS AS A TEACHING RESOURCE, ENCOURAGE EDUCATORS TO DOWNLOAD OUR KINDNESS FOR ALL GUIDE, AND GENERATE LEADS FOR HEART. IT WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP, WITH OVER 15,000 PAGEVIEWS AND MORE THAN 500 DOWNLOADS OF THE GUIDE AND NEW SUBSCRIBERS TO HEART'S LISTSERV IN THE CAMPAIGN'S FIRST THREE MONTHS.

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION HEART PARTNERED WITH A NEWLY FORMED NONPROFIT, LEADERS FOR ETHICS, ANIMALS, AND THE PLANET (LEAP), TO DEVELOP A HUMANE EDUCATION CURRICULUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THAT WILL BE A KEY COMPONENT OF LEAP'S CORE PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM ADDRESSES THE ETHICS OF USING ANIMALS FOR INDUSTRY AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN COMMUNITIES, PROVIDES HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONNECTING WITH AND CARING FOR RESCUED ANIMALS, AND DELVES INTO WHAT WE CAN DO TO CURB CLIMATE CHANGE. LEAP OFFERS YOUNG PEOPLE FARMED AND DOMESTIC ANIMAL CARE EXPERIENCE WITHOUT THE FINANCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BURDEN OF RAISING AND SHOWING A SLAUGHTER-BOUND ANIMAL. IN THIS PILOT PROGRAM STAGE, STUDENTS MEET AT ONE OF THE SIX PARTICIPATING CALIFORNIA NONPROFIT ANIMAL SANCTUARIES FOR 10 HOURS A MONTH, RECEIVING HUMANE EDUCATION AND ASSISTING WITH ANIMAL CARE AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, WHICH CULMINATES IN A COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECT RELATED TO THE RESCUED ANIMALS AND A $1,000 SCHOLARSHIP AWARD FOR EACH PARTICIPATING STUDENT AT THE END OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR. THE PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO SCALE NATIONWIDE OVER THE LONG TERM. HEART ALSO PARTNERED WITH GRYPHON PRESS TO PUBLISH A HUMANE EDUCATION CLASSROOM GUIDE FOR ONE OF ITS CHILDREN'S BOOKS ON MIGRATORY BIRDS AND THE THREATS TO THEIR WELL-BEING. WE CONTINUED TO PROMOTE AND DISSEMINATE OUR FIVE RESOURCE MANUALS: OUR K-5 AND SECONDARY SCHOOL JUSTICE FOR ALL GUIDES, TOTALING 49 LESSONS; OUR K-12 HUMANE EDUCATION RESOURCE GUIDE, WITH 40 ANIMAL PROTECTION LESSONS; OUR K-3 EXPLORING THE LIVES OF FARM ANIMALS GUIDE WITH 14 LESSONS; AND OUR PRE-K GUIDE, KINDNESS FOR ALL, WITH A 7-LESSON CURRICULUM. WE ALSO PROMOTED OUR REMOTE LEARNING COLLECTION OF ACTIVITIES TO NURTURE KINDNESS AND CALM FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS TO USE WITH THEIR STUDENTS, AS WELL AS OUR TEACHCLIMATE.ORG CLIMATE LITERACY WEBSITE, AND WE DISSEMINATED OUR EVERYDAY CIRCLES CARDS, A TOOLKIT OF 180 HUMANE EDUCATION/SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING ACTIVITY CARDS PERTAINING TO A RANGE OF ANIMAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPICS.

STUDENT PROGRAMSIN ADDITION TO ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH THE CCA PROGRAM DESCRIBED IN THE "TEACHER TRAINING, SCHOOL CONSULTATION, AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT" SECTION OF THIS NARRATIVE, HEART INSTRUCTORS ALSO DIRECTLY TAUGHT MULTI-LESSON PROGRAMS TO STUDENTS IN THE NEW YORK CITY, CHICAGO, AND INDIANAPOLIS AREAS BOTH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUALLY IN 2022. WE TAUGHT AT SCHOOLS IN QUEENS, NY AND CONDUCTED PROGRAMS IN CHICAGO THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IN INDIANAPOLIS, WE PARTNERED WITH EARTH CHARTER INDIANA TO CO-LEAD A SUCCESSFUL CLIMATE CAMP AND CREATE SOME EASY-TO-USE TOOLS FOCUSED ON THE WAYS THAT FOOD IMPACTS CLIMATE CHANGE FOR TEACHERS WHO ARE PART OF THE THRIVING SCHOOLS CHALLENGE PROGRAM, WHICH HELPS TACKLE FOOD ACCESS WITHIN HISTORICALLY UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES. AS GUEST LECTURERS, WE ALSO REACHED COLLEGE STUDENTS AT MADONNA UNIVERSITY.