The Tell Me Who I Am® Institute is based on a proprietary system of informal learning developed by KidPositive®, a youth products and services company engaged in the production and distribution of educational media, entertainment, consumer products and educational services. KidPositive developed and produced the award-winning animated home video and activity book, Tell Me Who I Am: The Journey Begins. The Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, Dove Foundation, Telly Awards, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and National Black Programming Consortium have all honored the first Tell Me Who I Am film for its valuable educational content. It has been featured in Essence, Ebony and KidScreen magazines, on The Tom Joyner Morning Show and on Fox News. KidPositive’s website is featured as a primary link with most children’s/family-oriented sites.

KidPositive is currently developing a full television, home video, print, and educational series to launch the continuation of this animated story with a new title, The Adventures of Nia and Funzi…featuring the Tell Me Who I Am game. Tell Me Who I Am remains an important feature as an interactive music game always shown in the new series and as a tool for ongoing learning products and programs. In fact, motivation and learning techniques developed for the animated series form the basis of the program introduced here.

The Tell Me Who I Am Youth Development Program (TYDP) is designed as a method of informal education that uniquely combines learning and entertainment to impact the lives of at-risk youths in very specific areas. It is an informal supplement to the formal learning process. It builds on the educational concepts introduced in the first Tell Me Who I Am video and activity book by using these learning and motivation tools to expand the content into lessons, interactive games and other exercises. Ultimately it will involve an entire series of videos, digital media, and national television broadcasts with distribution of related educational materials to affiliated youth sites. Its overall purpose is to help children discover and realize their full potential—who they really are—through an entertaining process of building life and academic skills.

Curiculum Overview

The TYDP curriculum engages children in activities that combine imagination, adventure and entertainment with images and messages that illuminate the positive values in historical events and role models. These activities, utilizing various forms of media, entertainment, games, in-class discussions, role playing, music, activity books and handouts, help produce an environment of motivation and confidence conducive for helping youths learn specific educational content--science, geography, vocabulary development, career planning and conflict resolution. Primary educational content follows national education standards provided by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in the following content areas: Science, Technology, Life Skills, and Geography. The curriculum organizes the content into two tracks: