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Breaking Chains Building Futures

By: Isaac Barragan, Mina Aranda, Johnathan Martinez II

Big Picture High School

Fresno County school District

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  • The problem - Fresno, California experienced a significant rise in violent crime in 2021 and a further increase in 2022, with a surge in gang-related homicides involving firearms and non-fatal shootings.
  • Our solution to this problem is creating a safe and welcoming environment for young people to build healthy communities

Our Goal For Breaking Chains Building Futures

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Stats

  • Gang related retaliatory shootings in the city of Fresno increased from 35 in 2014 to 57 in 2016
  • Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Violent Crime are 1 IN 114

  • Exposure to natural environments has been shown to lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and a calmer state of mind

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What: Influence and encourage the most vulnerable population to be initiated by gangs to make alternative and healthy choices.

Who: 8th Graders from our feeder Middle School - (Big Picture Middle School)

When/Where: May 2nd at the Kings River Wildlife area

How: Take them out into nature where they will hear from an individual who was sentenced to life in prison for killing someone, but turned their life around and is now encouraging others to do the same. Also show them alternative things to do

Why: Kids every year are lead down the wrong path, They get involved in drugs and violent tendencies. Being face first with many people dying and being desensitized to many different types of traumatic events as children

Our Civic Project

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Johnathan

  • Spiderweb
  • Purpose: for students understand that even though we have our own challenges we need others to help us.

  • Reinforced trust with one another, working together to make a strategy, and discourage impulsive decisions otherwise the challenge got harder.

    • Team building
    • Connecting
    • Leadership

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Empathy Exercise - Interviewing a peer (Mina)

  • The Exercise

  • Purpose
    • Improve empathy with others
    • Communication skills
    • Increasing emotional intelligence

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Isaac

  • Stepping stones

    • Purpose: for students to look out for each other and not just themselves

    • Reinforced listening skills and discourage impulsive decisions otherwise the challenge got harder

    • Teambuilding
    • Leadership
    • Strategy

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Possible Outcomes from our event

Kids went back home at the end of the day with big smiles and were very open about how they feel despite being very closed off at the beginning. Being able to grow and communicate with one another.

Project Outcomes - (video below)

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Civic Education Center

Army Corps of Engineers

Elementary school - Big Picture Elementary School

Speaker - Arnold Trevino, Fresno State Rebound Project

Our Community Partners

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Bibliography