Armed And Educated is a community safety organization. We work to prevent firearm violence by educating & training communities on conflict management skills, youth mentoring & promoting a safe & responsible firearm culture. Our main focus is underserved communities experiencing heightened firearm violence. 

 

WHY?

Our passion for community safety is rooted in a desire to see vulnerable people empowered to protect to protect themselves. Our community involvement has placed us in personal proximity to victims as well as perpetrators of firearm violence. Recognizing the systemic & intra-communal factors that drive firearm violence & knowing we can affect change has encouraged us into action.  We are confident that learning & living productive conflict management skills, positively influencing youth through mentoring & encouraging a safe and responsible firearm culture are viable tools in reducing firearm violence.  

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HOW?

Mentoring Youth:

We are actively engaging middle and high school youth through mentoring. Our programming centers social & emotional well being, offering advocacy & modeling hope to at risk teens. Our focus is learning from and teaching our youth through meaningful activities and impactful dialogue. We influence and encourage our youth to focus on their bright futures through goal setting, using discipline, accountability and emotional intelligence to productively navigate their current circumstances.

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Our Mentoring Program Includes:

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Intro To HipHop/The Art Of Dj'ing - Participants learn the origins & elements of Hip Hop culture. Participants listen to, analyze & discuss the content of Hip Hop music and compare/contrast it with many of it's sub genres such as Trap, Drill, Emo Rap, etc. & possible social & emotional effects of consuming it. Participants learn introductory techniques of the DJ craft, instructed on industry standard software and hardware. Participants are encouraged to apply learned skills as a means of emotional and artistic expression, hobbyists and as entrepreneurs.

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Conflict Management - Conflict Management class is designed to teach students the skills needed to understand conflict, manage it effectively and produce positive outcomes. Emphasis is placed on utilizing conflict avoidance, de-escalation & resolution as tools to help achieve goals, operate within personal interests, and effectively manage emotions to productivley work through conflict.

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Growing Games - We use a wide array of games to introduce participants to some of the real conditions of life. Competition has the ability to unite people and/or pit us against each other.  We embrace the emotions, mindsets, strategies, skills sets & critical thinking that arise during competitions to get to know our youth.  We take the opportunities to coach emotional regulation and learn from winning and losing. Whether the games focus on luck or skill; we instruct participants to "play the hand they've been dealt" to the best of their ability and/or develop skills to affect the outcomes.

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Children's/Youth Gun Safety - We promote a safe & responsible firearm culture by teaching firearm safety and responsibility to children and youth. First, we teach conflict management skills. Prior to even allowing so much as a water gun into the space, we teach & drill conflict avoidance, de-escalation & resolution. Once we've established productive conflict management as an individual & collective mindset, we teach class by age groups.

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Children's Firearm Safety (Pre-K to 5th Grade) - strongly promotes absolutely not handling or being in spaces where firearms are even present, unless directed to do so by an authorized guardian.

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Youth firearm safety (6th to 12th Grade) - promotes a safe & responsible firearm culture by teaching & drilling the Universal Firearm Safety Rules, safe & responsible firearm handling and marksmanship with dummy and airsoft guns.

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Adult Courses: 

GENERAL GUN SAFETY: $55 per student

Class details: Students will learn responsible firearm handling, proper storage, understanding gun laws, and the basics of shooting to prevent accidents and misuse. We'll combine classroom instruction with hands-on range practice and cover topics like safe gun storage, firearm parts, ammunition, and marksmanship fundamentals. 

 

We will travel to a gun range & have live fire practice. Students can bring their own firearms, rent from the range or borrow mine. They will need to bring ammo, buy it from the range or from me if they borrow my firearms (mine are 9mm, 50 rounds of ammo $20). Students will pay range fees (typically $25).

 

BASIC PISTOL: $65 per student

Class details: The primary goals of this course are to learn firearm safety and basic handgun shooting fundamentals, with a self-defense focus. Topics include safe firearm handling, self-defense firearms basics, common malfunctions, and shopping for your first firearm. This course is ideal for first-time shooters or for those looking to refresh their skills. Up to one hour of live-fire training on the range is included.

 

We will travel to a gun range & have live fire practice. Students can bring their own firearms, rent from the range or borrow mine. They will need to bring ammo, buy it from the range or from me if they borrow my firearms (mine are 9mm, 50 rounds of ammo $20). Students will pay range fees (typically $25).

 

CONCEALED CARRY: $85 per student

Class details: Concealed Carry Deadly Weapons (CCDW KY)

We will cover concealed carry to acquire your license, basics in firearms responsibility, shooting, avoiding violent encounters & conflict as well as situational awarenes, the legal concerns of using deadly force, options to mitigate those encounters & more. 

 

We will travel to a gun range for live fire shooting qualification. Students can bring their own firearms, rent from the range or borrow mine. They will need to bring ammo, buy it from the range or from me if they borrow my firearms (mine are 9mm, 50 rounds of ammo $20). Students will pay range fees (typically $25).

 

* This course, as set forth by the State, fulfills the requirement of training to apply for a Kentucky concealed carry deadly weapons license. Fees associated with applying with the state are $65 and are paid to the state when you apply for your license.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY: $250 per hr

Class details: Developing best practices in optimizing safety for organizations in movement space.

Preparation 

Preparation for the work includes self care, familiarity with co-laborers, acquiring & preparing equipment, mission focus, mindset & more. Individual & group responsibilities are also discussed.

 

The Advance

The advance is a thorough examination of the entire itinerary performed prior to the event in every space the organization is involved. Every aspect organized should prioritize safety around the information collected in this process.

 

Situational Awareness 

Situational awareness is observation of the immediate vicinity, all the individuals, and objects within that environment. Develop observation skills to keep your organization and co-laborers safe.

 

Conflict Avoidance

Unnecessary conflicts can distract individuals from the mission and put everyone in harm's way. The only guaranteed method of surviving a violent encounter is to avoid it in the first place. Conflict avoidance techniques are taught to help avoid altercations all together.

 

Conflict De-escalation

When conflict is not avoidable, it is important to prevent it from escalating or becoming potentially violent. Conflict de-escalation is an examination of methods most capable of keeping us safe. 

 

*Organizational Safety is a 4 hr course and can be administered in one sitting or over several days. 

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Community Efforts: 

 

Pull Ups: We approach community members in parks, at basketball courts & other popular gathering places to give away gun locks & teach basic gun safety on the spot. Our main focus is people visibly carrying firearms, but we engage anyone who is interested in gun locks or discussing gun safety.

 

Gas Money & Gun Safety: During the peak of gas price hikes in 2022 we developed an effort to gave away free gas in exchange for an opportunity to teach community members basic gun safety. We organized the effort at gas stations in underserved communities experiencing heightened gun violence. We have partnered with organizations to recreate this effort in other states since we started it. We are excited to partner with other community organizations to continue this effort.

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Groceries & Gun Safety: During the peak of grocery price hikes in 2022 we gave away free produce & beef fresh from farm in exchange for an opportunity to teach community members basic gun safety. We organized the effort at a black owned grocery store established in 2020 to combat a community food desert, also in an underserved community experiencing heightened gun violence. We are excited to partner with food justice organizations to continue this effort.

 

World's Biggest Water Fight Against Gun Violence: We used 1,000 water guns, thousands of water balloons & a host of other water toys to beat the summer heat, have fun and teach gun safety to children, youth & their parents. Children were taught what to do if they ever come into contact with firearms. Parents were taught basic gun safety. We placed a special emphasis on the difference between toys made for fun & appropriate for children Vs. real firearms, bb guns & guns that can't be easily identified as real or not. The 3 neighborhoods we organized the effort in are all experiencing heightened gun violence. We are excited to partner with organizations that work with youth to continue this effort.

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Armed And Educated is changing the narrative on firearm violence with education, training & youth mentoring in underserved communities. 

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Armed And Educated Inc. is a registered 501C3 organization.

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