Pathway to Harmony Aikido Summer Enrichment (P.H.A.S.E.)

Registration is now open for the Pathway to Harmony Aikido Summer Enrichment (P.H.A.S.E.) program. This year we are offering scholarships to youth who are interested in having fun learning how to fly a plane, how to produce music, create a business, and developing their mind and body. Youth awarded a scholarship must be able to attend all six weeks of the program. Youth will receive a stipend upon completion. Please click here to begin the registration process. You will be contacted within 48 hours of us receiving your child’s application.

The Pathway to Harmony Aikido Summer Enrichment (P.H.A.S.E.) is a six-week summer character, leadership, and inter-personal skill development program for youth. This year P.H.A.S.E. will be conducted with the help of the Japanese Culture Center, National Women Veterans Union (NWVU), Gift of Flight, and The Island Recording Studio. Each week participants will be exposed to enthusiastic, talented, and passionate people who come from diverse backgrounds and professions and are committed to Pathway’s mission of helping people to enhance their quality of life. The 2022 P.H.A.S.E. program has been designed for youth in grades 7 through 12 and will be conducted July 5 through August 13, 2022. Classes will meet:

Monday 12:30pm – 3:00pm

Tuesday 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Wednesday 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Saturday 11:30am – 1:30pm

* Because of the July 4th holiday a class has been scheduled for Thursday, July 7th, 12:30pm – 3:00pm.

This year the core components of P.H.A.S.E. are:

• Aviation-STEM
• Digital Music Production,
• Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development
• Conflict Resolution – Self-defense – Mind and Body Energy Revitalization

In each component participants will engage in structured educational, interactive, safe, and fun activities that promote patience, respect, teamwork, and civic responsibility; development of leadership and business skills; early academic and career development; mental and physical wellness and exercise; and non-violent conflict resolution. In addition, they will learn Pathway to Harmony’s 4 Principles (PH4P) to help them become more self-disciplined, more focused on accomplishing their academic, professional, and personal goals, how to handle adversity, and how to minimize chaos or stress in their daily life.

The goals of P.H.A.S.E. are to:

• Create in participants the desire to enhance their quality of life via academic and physical excellence.
• Motivate participants to become more accountable to themselves for their mental and physical development; and
• Have participants return to school motivated to learn with increased self-confidence, self-esteem, stronger inter-personal skills, and a positive attitude towards learning.

Core Component Descriptions

AVIATION-STEM

The Pathway to Harmony Aviation-STEM program was developed in collaboration with Gift of Flight for the purpose of providing youth with an introduction to the field of Aviation and the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) high growth careers connected to aviation and increasing their chances for future financial stability. In this component P.H.A.S.E. participants will be introduced to the field of aviation, the requirements for the FAA Private Pilot certification, and STEM careers that can help them increase their chances of receiving a college scholarship in a related field. Additionally, our goal is to introduce and teach non-cognitive life skills that prepare students for higher education and success in growth careers such as FAA Pilot (commercial, drone), Air Traffic Control, Aircraft Maintenance, Aerospace Engineering, and Meteorology. Trained industry professionals cover topics connected to these high paying fields and prepare youth for their FAA Private Pilot Certification.  This component will be taught at the National Women Veteran Union

Areas covered in the Aviation-STEM component:

• Aircraft and aerodynamic
• Aircraft instruments, engines, and systems
• Airports, air traffic control, and airspace
• FAA regulations
• Aircraft performance and weight & balance
• Aeromedical factors and aeronautical decision making
• Weather
• Navigation charts and publications
• Navigation systems
• Cross-country flight planning,
• Aviation history

This component will be conducted at The National Women Veteran Union.

DIGITAL MUSIC PRODUCTION

This component is being offered through a partnership with Island Recording Studio for the purpose of introducing P.H.A.S.E. participants to the many sides of music production. Participants will meet with some of Chicago’s top music producers and music industry representatives to receive hands on experience in learning how a recording is made or produced. This component is totally inter-active, and participants will have fun learning about the collaborative process that extends into every area of music production. In addition to making sure the P.H.A.S.E. participants have fun, our goals are to show them that the music industry is a business with creative professionals sometimes coming from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds that work together as a team to produce the best product they can; help them recognize the importance of developing their interpersonal or non-cognitive skills to open doors, create opportunities, and deal with adversity, setbacks, and frustrations that is often experienced in most professions especially the music industry.

Areas covered in the Digital Music Production component:

• History of recording

• Multi-track recording

• DAWs (digital Audio work stations)

• Basic drum programming

• Basic Music programming

• Intro to Music theory

• Background Vocals Vs Lead vocals

• Recording instruments 

• Mixing Vs Mastering

• Uploading to Internet

• The music business

This component will be taught at The Island Recording Studio.

LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

In this component P.H.A.S.E. participants will learn about 21st century leadership and entrepreneurship. The focus of this component is on self-empowerment and engagement. Through group discussion and activities participants will learn how to communicate effectively and about civic and social responsibility, and they will gain knowledge and skills that can help them to activate change in their schools and communities.

Areas covered in Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development:

• Emotional intelligence – what it is and how to activate it.
• Social media – thought leadership, activism, and creating and maintaining a polished presence
• Leading at work and school
• Entrepreneurship – Small Business, Scalable Start-up, and Social
• Public speaking

This component will be conducted at The National Women Veteran Union.

SELF-DEFENSE, CONFLICT RESOLUTION, MIND AND BODY ENERGY REVITALIZATION 

In this component participants will be introduced to Pathway to Harmony’s 4 Principles to help them become more self-disciplined, more focused on accomplishing their academic, professional, and personal goals. The 4 Principles are based on principles from the self-defense art, Aikido, which is often called the art of peace because of its emphasis on developing and maintaining a calm spirit and the peaceful resolution of conflict.

Our goal is to teach participants how to minimize the effects of stress in their daily life and improve their general health through exercise and breathing meditation.

Participants will learn breathing meditation techniques to help them:

• Develop the self-discipline needed to focus and center themself to accomplish their goals
•  Remain calm when faced with mental, verbal, and physical adversity
•  Help them to develop a positive attitude.

In addition, they will have fun learning basic self-defense coupled with a combination of relaxed breathing meditation, light stretching, Aikido, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Yoga exercise that will help them:

• Loosen tense muscles
• Enhance coordination and balance
• Develop good posture
• Wakes up the energy centers of the body
• Promote good blood circulation
• Generate new energy, and
• Reduces stress

Upon completion P.H.A.S.E. participants will know the importance of reducing and managing the stress in their lives to combat stress related physical and mental health issues and keep themselves at the top of their game.

This component will be taught at the beautiful and tranquil Japanese Culture Center, headquarters of the Aikido Association of America