Have you checked out our Civic Health + Wellbeing toolkit? Leading up to the midterm elections in November, Cool Culture conducted a campaign across our social media platforms and newsletter to encourage families to seek opportunities to exercise their voices and make an impact within their communities.
Author and educator Carla Shalaby writes, “Everyone has power, no matter their age.” She encourages and guides children and families to talk about what rights and responsibilities look like for themselves and their communities. “You have the power to make life happier and healthier for members of your community and for all living things, through: the everyday things you say and do, the actions you take to fight for fairness, the ways you take good care of yourself and other living things.”
Based on our social justice values and goals as an organization, for our campaign we curated:
- civic engagement opportunities like participatory budgeting, which offers NYC residents a chance to weigh in on $5 million of public money
- civics-centered exhibits from our cultural partners, including Activist NY at Museum of the City of New York;
- art-making activities from our toolkit designed for young children
- midterm elections voting information from NYC Civic Engagement Commission and NYCvotes.org to remind members of our Cool Culture community about timing of voting and early voting and access to language assistance and translation services. While voting is technically something that only adult caregivers can do, civic engagement is possible for all ages and bringing children to the polls can be a model for involvement in other ways.
If you missed our #CoolCivics campaign this fall, we will continue to feature citywide civic engagement opportunities year-round, and highlight our advocacy work for equity in cultural spaces.
For our educator friends, civic wellbeing will return as a theme in our Curators for Educators workshop in the spring. Follow us on social media to find resources, family activities, and cultural partner recommendations related to physical, mental, spiritual and civic wellbeing.
