NYLC Welcomes Youth Fellows
NYLC is excited to welcome a cohort of Fellows this summer. These young people are working on various aspects of NYLC including the National Youth Leadership Training, the G. Bernard Gill Legacy Project, the National Urban Service-Learning Institute, and the Barack and Michelle Obama Service-Learning Elementary summer leadership program in St. Paul, Minn.
“The Fellows program is one of NYLC’s efforts to address the transition to adulthood head-on,” said NYLC CEO Jim Kielsmeier. “The relationship is definitely reciprocal, offering NYLC an opportunity to understand the issues facing young people through a different lens than that of the research that lands in our annual publication Growing to Greatness. In turn, we aim to offer the Fellows valuable work experience during an important time of their lives.”
To that end, the cohort meets weekly to discuss seminal articles on service-learning, progressive education, and youth work, in addition to the responsibilities they shoulder through the summer, described below.
Matt Amys, a current NYLC Youth Advisory Council member, will begin his sophomore year at the University of Southern California this fall where he is studying engineering. He is helping with NYLT and completing a multimedia training tool addressing the achievement gap.
Loretta Chosa, another YAC member, is a recent graduate of South High School in Minneapolis, Minn. She is working on a range of NYLT activities and is helping with the Urban Institute.
Farnaaz Farzanehkia, a current NYLC YAC member, is a recent graduate of Jefferson High School in Bloomington, Minn. who will start her freshman year this fall at the University of Minnesota. She is also assisting with NYLT.
Tyler Hamblin is a junior at Cretin-Derham Hall in Saint Paul, Minn. He is working on the G. Bernard Gill Legacy Project, the Urban Institute, and trainings on the achievement gap.
Liana Leyrer, a student at the University of Minnesota, is helping NYLC’s communications department update the library database and assisting with the development of a service-learning wiki.
Erika Medina is a recent graduate of Roseville Area High School in Roseville, Minn. She is “advocating for” the late G. Bernard Gill’s work as a supporter of closing the achievement gap, and is working on the teen driver safety initiative Project Ignition.
Khymyle Mims just finished his first year at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. where he is studying business administration and sociology. He is helping continue Gill’s work concerning the achievement gap, and is also helping with NYLT and the Urban Institute.
Autumn Pernu is a recent graduate of St. Paul’s High School for Recording Arts in Minnesota and will begin her first year this fall at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. She is helping with the development and dissemination of the achievement gap multimedia training tool, taking photos at NYLT, and working on various communications projects.
Top row: Tyler Hamblin, Khymyle Mims, Matt Amys
Bottom row: Loretta Chosa, Farnaaz Farzanehkia, Liana Leyrer, Erika Medina
