Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • ‘Blind date' for political rivals? TV show is breaking down barriers.

    The Canadian reality show, “Political Blind Date,” pairs two politicians from opposing sides to spend two days together visiting each other’s constituents and wrestling with difficult issues. Fifty politicians have participated over five seasons, averaging about 195,000 viewers per episode. The aim is not to get them to change their minds, but to humanize people with opposing political beliefs and break down the increasingly common ‘us versus them’ mindset in politics. Advocates say that this has a “trickle down” effect on viewers forging greater understanding and more respectful debate.

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  • This community garden in Southeast Washington grows far more than food

    As a way to bring the community together and promote healing in Southeast Washington, D.C., residents created a garden known as Project Eden. Their garden has grown to a plot of land that grows roots, legumes, fruits, and greens with a greenhouse and aquaponics system that has fed thousands of people. The founders view the garden as a way to strengthen food security and encourage resiliency for an area where people have witnessed violent acts.

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  • CSI Houston: How a Texas lab has remade the science of forensics

    One of the first crime-lab scandals gave birth to a better way of ensuring the integrity and accuracy of forensic evidence. The Houston Forensic Science Center operates independently of law enforcement agencies, with a large staff of scientists and a healthy budget to correct some of the resource-related flaws of its police-run predecessor. Perhaps its greatest innovation is a system of regularly running blind tests as a quality check, to make sure the staff stays vigilant. The goal is to avoid the kinds of bad science that often contribute to wrongful convictions and other injustices.

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  • In a roiled Minneapolis, schools are testing new model for safety

    Washburn High School in Minneapolis is taking a different approach for in-school safety, one that doesn't rely on a police presence. The school district ended its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department and replaces School Resource Officers with civilian safety specialists, who are not uniformed, armed, and have no power of arrest. Instead, the specialists provide more community-centered services to visiting students who were disconnected, aiding with food distribution, and evaluate school safety plans.

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  • How one Chinatown curbs anti-Asian violence and unites a city

    Anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic have sparked a movement nationwide to stand up against bias and to help protect those most vulnerable to attack, the elderly. In one of America's oldest Chinese enclaves, Oakland's Chinatown, Compassion in Oakland has attracted thousands of volunteers of all races and ethnicities to chaperone the elderly on their errands and to patrol the streets as additional eyes and ears for the police. Shopkeepers and residents feel safer. And, among the volunteer protectors, bridges are being built where tensions and rivalries have long existed.

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  • No badges. No guns. Can violence interrupters help Minneapolis?

    MinneapolUS puts unarmed community members on Minneapolis streets to prevent street violence, part of the city's effort to redirect resources from the police to other crime-prevention efforts. Four teams of 20 to 30 members, many of them former gang members and formerly incarcerated, have intervened in beatings and potential shootings. They use a public-health approach pioneered by the organization Cure Violence, which has proven effective in other cities.

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  • Why cities are experimenting with giving people cash payments

    Chelsea, Massachusetts, is supplementing its traditional welfare system with a guaranteed income. Cash payments will be provided to recipients who can spend them without any restrictions. Similar universal basic income programs across the country have shown significant positive outcomes that boosted incomes, as well as physical and mental health.

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  • India trashes 100 million tires a year. She turns them into playgrounds.

    Anthill Creations has built 275 "playscapes" across India, mostly using discarded vehicle tires as the affordable raw materials. In many parts of the country, children lack outdoor play spaces and toys to enliven their play. By "upcycling" some of the 100 million discarded tires the country generates annually and painting them bright colors, the 5-year-old project has benefits ranging from the environment to children's safety and happiness.

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  • ‘Somebody cares': How schools are helping with student well-being

    To combat the mental health impacts of pandemic-era remote and hybrid learning, Palmer Middle School in Georgia established a grief-support group, a "stress busters" group, a book club, and a series of virtual lunch sessions with games and music to help students make connections and learn coping skills. More than 90% of students reported decreased stress levels after participating in the stress busters program, and their school attendance records also improved.

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  • The tutoring revolution: How it could transform education

    Research shows tutoring can increase learning. Two years into the pandemic, the exact rates of learning loss due to pandemic learning are still unknown, but its effects have been documented. Researchers, teachers, and academics are advocating for “high dosage,” or “high impact," tutoring (a form of tutoring where one tutor is paired with one student, or a group of small students) at a national level. Students at Chicago public schools who got high impact tutoring “two to three times as much as their peers.”

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