Drew Kampion - From the Quiver - The Giraffe Project

When fifth-grader Kanesha Sonée Johnson saw her African-American schoolmates bullying and tormenting the few Asian and Latino kids attending her Hawthorne, California, elementary school, she stuck her neck out, braving harassment and threats to befriend the outcast kids. She stood up for them, brought them into playground games, tutored them in English, and finally got her classmates to see them as real kids like themselves. Kanesha is a Giraffe.

Text

Faced with declining respect for authority, corruption in high places, increasing street crime, families unraveling, apathy, drugs, and aimless kids, one could easily think the nation (and the world) is going to hell in a handbasket. Where are the positive role models when we need them?

Identifying and telling the often harrowing stories of "Giraffes" -- real people of character (like Kanesha) who take significant personal risks for the common good -- has been the province of the Giraffe Project since its founding by Ann Medlock in 1982. Today, after commending and publicizing over 800 such heroes, it seems the world is ready to listen.

"Now everybody's starting to fuss about character education," says Medlock. "They're looking to create teaching materials, and we're saying, 'Uh-uh! We did that! Here we are!'"

Medlock is referring to the Project's Standing Tall program. Based on the fundamental Giraffe principle of sticking your neck out for the common good, this Kindergarten-through-Grade 12 curriculum is aimed at building courage, caring, and responsibility in kids, and it's being enthusiastically received and implemented by schools and youth groups across the country.

"We seem to have almost accidentally gotten at the lead of this trend because we've been working for four years on a program that is character education," says Giraffe Project Executive Director, John Graham, who described the program at a White House Summit Conference on character last year. A powerful speaker and former State Department diplomat, Graham also delivered the closing keynote at the 1994 National Community Leadership Conference; that speech led directly to a contract between the project and the US Navy, which has begun introducing the Standing Tall to schools with support from specially-trained Navy staff.

Named as a "Point of Light" by the Bush White House, the Giraffe Project got another big boost earlier this year (1995) when it received a $240,000 grant from Kellogg Corporation, earmarked for Standing Tall programs in six inner cities in collaboration with Cities in Schools, a national "school success" program active in 125 US cities. The Project has also begun to implement the curriculum in partnership with community organizations and companies.

Clearly, there is a bull market for Giraffe stories and values in today's world. The Project has been the subject of a groundswell of media attention (the Sept. 17th edition of Parade, for example) and recently signed a contract with Fox Television to provide Giraffe segments for A Current Affair. Graham is at work on a new book, Home of the Brave, a step-by-step handbook for people who want to get active in their community, after completing a tome on leadership for The Mountaineers. "Leadership on a mountain or in the board room or at a PTA meeting," he says, "is all the same thing."

The Giraffe Project aims to "enCourage" people, to inspire them to stand tall behind their convictions. "Kids are particularly vulnerable to the anti-social images that bombard them," notes Graham, adding that, "for people of all ages, the belief that we can affect our world has been undermined." He sees the stories of Giraffes as providing essential role models. Examples from the Giraffe News:

Ten-year-old Desiray Bartak of Newbury Park, CA, was sexually abused by a family friend; after his arrest, the traumatized girl wanted other kids to know they could fight back. She went public, convincing a famous attorney to sue the man for damages. Desiray now runs a support network for abused kids.

When St. Louis science teacher Elaine Alexander saw how energized students were when they did community service, she gave up her secure teaching position and devoted herself to creating a program that enlisted kids in 18 schools to do thousands of hours of service work for over 350 community agencies.

Sam Harris of Washington, DC, was a symphony percussionist and music teacher when he stuck his neck out to become am unpaid grassroots lobbyist for the poor. Seventeen years later, Harris's organization, RESULTS, is credited with helping save the lives of three million kids around the world every year, and has been called "pound for pound, the most effective lobbying group in Washington.

Parole officer Kenneth Mason of Summit, NJ, blew the whistle when superiors failed to act on his reports that the records of dangerous parolees were being lost and mishandled -- a serious threat to public safety. Fired for speaking out, he continues to demand changes in the system.

Giraffe Project members (and you could be one!) are urged to spot people who put themselves at risk for the common good and report "sightings" to headquarters. The Project's research staff checks into each story; every three months, a volunteer committee meets to hear the stories of new nominees and award Giraffe commendations. The Project then seeks to inspire by telling the stories of these Giraffes to national and local media, and by presenting Giraffe stories and motivational materials through Standing Tall and other programs.

John Graham is clear on the aims of the Giraffe Project. "As far as I'm concerned, the word is revolution," he says. "The idea is to revolutionize the way people think about their rights and responsibilities in society."

Note

Regular Giraffe Project memberships cost $35 per year, which include a subscription to the inspiring Giraffe News. Write the Giraffe Project, Box 759, Langley, WA 98260.

Bio

Editor & Publisher of the Island Independent, a fortnightly regional magazine in the Pacific Northwest, Drew Kampion is a writer and former editor of Surfer, Surfing, Wind Surf, and New Age magazines. He has also worked extensively in advertising and was editorial director at Patagonia, a clothing company. He lives on Whidbey Island in Washington State.