UpRISE is a youth movement designed for Colorado. It supports youth and adults to come together to identify and address the root causes of nicotine use.
Youth must drive action
We have a voice and will use it in order to be part of decision-making and action around issues that impact young people. We are politically aware, civically engaged, and will challenge and change the broken systems that fail to support the health and well-being of all youth. We exist because it is a fact that 90 percent of current tobacco users started when they were children or teenagers. While youth cigarette use in Colorado has been on the decline, e-cigarette use by high school students has dramatically increased to the point that it is now considered to be an epidemic.
- Examine and discuss power and how certain groups of people have unearned privileges given to them by systems.
- Expose how the tobacco and vape industry has abused power to create unequal rates of tobacco use, addiction, and death.
- Create collective power by using our voices to speak with community decision-makers to transform systems.
Understanding and leveraging power is core to UpRISE’s work.
Collective voice, action, and shared resources
UpRISE provides funding, experiential workbooks, and coaching to youth-serving organizations and schools to increase youth’s knowledge and skills to create health equity. Three different program models are available to best serve our partners. Read about the options for participating in the UpRISE movement below.
- Introduction to UpRISE: Introduction to UpRISE is an 8-10 session workbook designed for middle-school aged participants (10-14 years old). The workbook aims to provide an introduction to the topics covered in UpRISE Years 1 and 2 through a social and emotional learning curriculum that explores identity, wellbeing, and coping skills. Introduction to UpRISE also presents an introduction to tobacco as a social justice issue, and provides knowledge about the impacts of vaping and nicotine on health through hands-on engagement activities.
- Phase 1: “Getting to the Root Cause” – This 16-session workbook was designed for high school aged youth to participate in over the course of a full academic year. Youth and adults discuss power, learn to see tobacco as an issue, identify a root cause of tobacco, investigate that root cause, and create a product that highlights their investigation findings. The group will then present their project to a local adult or local public health agency representative.
- Phase 2: “Understanding your Decision-maker Landscape” – This 12-session workbook was designed for high school aged youth to participate in over the course of a full academic year. This phase is intended for youth who already participated in Phase 1. In Phase 2, groups learn about their local decision-making landscape and talk with their selected decision-maker about some possible solutions to the root cause their group identified in Phase 1. Coalitions will begin creating relationships with their local decision-makers and learn about the importance of policy change at the local level. During this phase, a coalition evaluates values, how to handle opposition, and how to find allies in decision-making roles. Finally, groups mobilize their community to advocate for a policy solution.