POSTED BY: BOB KNOTTS
Today the Humanity Project announces an important new partnership. Barry University in Miami, Florida, has officially joined with us to help take our two newest programs to the teens and tweens who most need them.
As you may know, those programs are our innovative teen driver safety program called I Care/Just Let Me Drive (www.thehumanityproject.com/icare) and our website for socially isolated students called thp4kids, which stands for The Humanity Project 4 Kids (www.thp4kids.com). Both were created by talented high school students for their peers and, in the case of thp4kids, for younger students too.
State Farm is the major sponsor for these programs, providing the funding that allowed us to create them. Now our friends at Barry University will commit some of their sociology majors to bring both I Care and thp4kids into South Florida high schools and middle schools during the current academic year. Part of their efforts will focus on making sure I Care and thp4kids reach many more students. But Barry’s sociology majors also will conduct research to establish the effectiveness of the programs and to identify any areas where we may be able to make improvements.
A huge thanks to Dr. Laura Finley, VP of the Humanity Project Board of Directors, for helping to head up this work in her role as assistant professor of sociology and criminology at Barry University. Like Laura herself, Barry University believes in the importance of service aimed at establishing greater justice in our society. Laura is a longtime peace activist with a special interest in ending violence toward women. Barry U indeed has hosted some of her events and often is the site of meetings and activities intended to encourage a more peaceful world. In addition, the university was recognized for the third consecutive year in 2013 by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Top Colleges.” We’re proud of our new association with Barry University and welcome them to the Humanity Project family of community-minded sponsors and partners. Now the real work begins, engaging kids with our new programs. We’ll keep you posted on our progress in the months ahead.
