INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Circle City breathed a sigh of relief after Indianapolis police said Monday it had no curfew violations during the weekend that included the WNBA All-Star Game and the Indiana Black Expo.

But, that’s not slowing down the city’s crackdown on gun violence, and one Indianapolis Public Schools social worker thinks she may have a solution.

Chelsea English lost three of her students to gun violence. Two of them in died in the just the past two months. She launched the Safety, Health, Inclusion and Nurturing Environments project — shortened to the acronym SHINE — for the students at her school and is looking to expand it across the city.

English explained what led to the creation of SHINE. “I wanted to try to prevent those situations from happening rather than just continually responding into crisis, so this was what the kids have been asking for. Their solution is that they need a safe place to be during off school time.”

English works as a social worker at Shortridge High School and developed the SHINE program. High school students run the program, planning and doing about one to two events a month after school. The get-togethers range from tailgating parties supporting football and soccer games, to open-mic nights and a Valentine’s Day dance.

Some events, English said, brought in as many as 50 to 100 students. They had 10 events in the past school year.

High school Junior Darrick Colon said, “My favorite part was having everyone heard and seen and valued. We can gather in the cafeteria and have game nights and play music, and we really have fun, and, really, that’s my favorite part, having fun with everyone.”

English secured an IPS Changemaker grant of $5,000 to pay for supplies and food for all the events, so it’s free for students.

Noa Kaufman-Nichols, a recent Shortridge graduate and a SHINE organizer, quipped about its success. “We’re all teenagers, so free food brings us out.”

Joking aside, gun violence is a reality for students Kaufman-Nichols and other students. She’s known people who were killed and injured by gun violence in school and in her family. She said SHINE and programs like it can make a difference. “The reality is, there’s really not a lot of safe spaces in Indianapolis for teenagers that don’t cost money. There’s no where to go. You can go to the park. You can go out on the streets, but there’s no place where you can go hang out and feel safe.”

She’s not alone. Colon’s mom was a victim to gun violence. That’s why their family moved from Atlanta to Indianapolis. “That’s the reason why I love the SHINE program. It makes people feel heard. I even have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) when it comes to guns like that, and giving a chance for other kids my age and even younger to feel safe and not worry about that kind of stuff feels really empowering to me.”

Since the start of the program in August 2024, Indianapolis Public Schools says student detention at Shortridge High School decreased by 18%. That’s why English recently pitched her program to City-County Council’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, to get funding to expand.

She said, “I have found that punishment isn’t the most effective ways to make change in kids lives. But, they need hope believe in themselves and reasonable pathways to success. When we offer these things kids make the right choices.”

English tells News 8 that, for now, the program runs during school months and she’s hoping additional funding can expand it to also include the summer, and also more Indianapolis teens beyond Shortridge High School.

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