Filling the Gap
By: Amanda Larson, NYLC Professional Development Manager, Youth Initiatives Lead
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children,” Nelson Mandela once famously stated. While policy experts, businesses, and education leaders have all weighed in on how schools should be run, the voices of young people are suspiciously absent. The question remains: how can K-12 students themselves help their schools improve and, ultimately, close the achievement gap among their peers?
This summer from July 14-21, nearly one-hundred high school students from around the country will gather for eight days in scenic Minnesota for a very different kind of summer experience — a training program that aims to develop young leaders who go back to their schools and take ownership on the issue of education disparity.
The program is run each year by the National Youth Leadership Council®, a national nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minn., and is where the launch of its achievement gap initiative Smart. Youth Solutions to the Achievement Gap.™ took place. For more than two decades, NYLC has been a leader in service-learning field working with adult educators and empowering young leaders.
During this intense week, students challenge themselves and each other through simulations and a wide range of activities meant to foster a personal understanding of the achievement gap. Ultimately, students take what they learn at the camp and create yearlong service-learning projects, which are later implemented in their own schools with adult mentors. “This program creates an engaging and friendly environment for team building,” says Amanda Larson, Professional Development Manager with NYLC. “It’s about building a community.”
“The program gave me a purpose,” says Kelsey West, who participated as a student at Riverdale High School in Portland, Oregon. “For the first two years of high school I worked hard and was a good student — but I was working hard for myself,” says West. ”Because of NYLC and what I learned about the achievement gap, I learned that I can impact something greater than my own life.”
Jorge Zamora, a junior at Chicago Bulls Academy in Chicago, participated in the program after his freshman year at Chicago’s Kelvyn Park High School. “Before this program, I didn’t know anything about the achievement gap,” says Zamora. ”Now I know how important it is. I see kids who get to college, and they are overwhelmed. That’s when I realize that many young people go through the same struggles I went through as a freshman and sophomore.”
Two years after he participated in NYLC’s program, Zamora still uses what he has learned to make a difference in his community. His project encouraged students to support community-based efforts through mentoring programs and other activities. “I have seen how students see other students getting involved at school or in the community — and then get involved themselves,” says Zamora. He says it’s this kind of involvement that encourages young people to see that they are not alone, and can face big challenges like the achievement gap.
An important element in the program is the connection between mentors and youth. Kelsey Schonning, who has worked for youth development programs for the Minneapolis Public Schools, affirmed that “if you want students to grow up to be good adults and good citizens, you need them to have the type of understanding they can get from [NYLC’s program]. This kind of program is essential: it helps build up the number of young people who are committed to improving their communities and the world.”
If you are interested in attending this year’s National Youth Leadership Training or would like more information, please visit www.nylc.org/nylt or contact Amanda Larson at alarson@nylc.org, or 651-999-7362.
Reprinted with permission by the National Honor Society.
