City at Peace--New York Qualitative and Quantitative Results
In addition to an enormous feeling of satisfaction and pride from the performances and the work invested in their creation, the CPNY participants' accomplishments are excellent:

Pre and post-program evaluations tell us that participants who complete the program change the way they think about their lives and the possibilities that are available to them for the future.

The participants state that they increase their grades and their interest in school, change how they think about people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, change how they deal with conflict and have increased and developed their desire to make a difference in their communities--all due to their involvement in the CPNY program. Below is a sample of just a few of our results:

Cross Cultural Relationships
• Cross-cultural communication and comfort increased by 20% to a 77% confidence level of comfort with people of all races and cultures.
• Self-reported "empathy for others" increased in 68% of the participants.
• 82% of participants reported that City at Peace made them want to learn about people of different cultures.

Conflict Resolution
• 80% of participants reported that City at Peace has improved their ability to solve conflicts.
• There was a 33% drop in the number of participants who had been physically attacked as last year.
• There was a 30% increase in a dimension called "personal honesty" as students learned that trust was an essential ingredient in relationships.
• In the area of conflict resolution, participants increased the average number of strategies they had to draw on in a conflict as well as greatly improved the sophistication level of those strategies.
• 90% felt they had developed good anger management skills--up from 50% pre-program.

Education
• 95% of students report an increased motivation to do well in school as a result of the City at Peace experience.
• The mean GPA for City at Peace participants last year was 3.2 at year end--up from 2.6 pre-program.
• The number of students who reported having been suspended from school dropped from 27% to 0%.
• The college acceptance rate for City at Peace participants is approximately 90%, as compared to the national average of approximately 60%.

Leadership
• 70% of the cast members reported that City at Peace has definitely improved their leadership skills.
• By the second year of participation this rate is increased to 88%.

Self-Esteem
City at Peace participants show us that their "sense of future," or hope, increases dramatically with their involvement in the program. Sense of future is important because it effects daily choices in young people's lives ranging from "should I study?" to avoidance of risk behaviors. Research shows those with a sense of future succeed socially and economically where others, especially those "at risk," do not.
• 16% of our participants who had expressed doubts about their future before the program, increased their sense of their power to control their own lives and create their own futures with success, and said they could "clearly picture their own future."
• Personal Voice (an essential part of civic engagement): More than 50% felt they improved in being able to speak up on matters that concerned them personally or in society.

Community Responsibility
• 73% of participants reported that they have an increased drive to make a difference in the community.
• 66% of City at Peace participants reported that, if they could, they would vote.

Performing Arts
• All participants felt they increased their skills in at least two of the three artistic skills taught in the program--singing, dancing and acting.

New York City Youth served to date:
• 2002 (pilot) 27 participants from 10 schools
• 2002-2003 57 participants from 33 schools
• 2003-2004 65 participants from 35 schools
• 2004-2005 70 participants from 40 schools

• 2005-2006 80 participants from 40 schools