Amanda Hayes Foundation, Inc.
About Us
Amanda N. Chandler
Managing Director
"Here is what inspires me. Watching a child experience and master a new skill. Turning a negative
assignment into a positive experience. The first step in education is engagement."
Amanda N. Chandler is a San Diego, California native, and an enthusiastic teacher. She graduated from Temple University with a Bachelors of Science in Education. She earned a Master’s Degree in Urban Education from Temple University, in May 2022. She is earning a Master's Degree in Education in Reading and Literacy and expects to graduate in May 2024. Amanda loves teaching, tennis, and Marvel Comics.
Education First!
Our mission is to provide free innovative educational and health and wellness programs to at-risk youth. We help them reimagine their roles in society, in general, and in the criminal justice system, in particular. Amanda Hayes Foundation, Inc. targets students, ages 5-18, who live in neighborhoods plagued with poverty, substance abuse, illegal drug sales, gang violence, and depression. We teach students their legal rights and responsibilities, and how the criminal justice system works. We also introduce them to career options ranging from crime scene investigators to attorneys.
We collaborate with teachers, school principals, athletic coaches, and other non-profit organizations to identify and recruit students. Our programs are run on school campuses, in classrooms and labs, local parks and other venues that are accessible to our student population.
During our Crime Scene Investigation (“CSI”)/Grand Jury/Mock Trial Program students 1) recreate crime scenes, 2) collect evidence from fake bodies, 3) examine evidence under microscopes, 4) become grand jurors who evaluate the evidence that is collected, and 5) act as attorneys who conduct mock trials and present the evidence collected during the crime scene investigations.