Young Leaders Work to Help Solve Achievement Gap
On Saturday, July 23, NYLC youth and adult staff said goodbye to 30 high school students who came from around the country for the eight-day National Youth Leadership Training program. The annual training took place at Voyageur Environmental Center in Mound, Minn., July 16-23, to train youth on becoming leaders on addressing the achievement gap. Participants also explored diversity, equity, team-building, and service-learning.
Youth-Led Solutions to the Achievement Gap
This year marked the end of a multi-year grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board for youth who attend NYLT to address the achievement gap. For three years, NYLT has worked to foster understanding of educational inequities and empower youth to become leaders on this issue. NYLT marked the release of Smart. Youth Solutions to the Achievement Gap. The Smart. student handbook and facilitator guide are designed to help teams of youth plan how they can help bridge the achievement gap in their own local communities. They include national research on education statistics, sample community survey questions, trainings and templates for creating a high-quality service-learning action plan.
“Personally, the Smart. guide was an exceptional resource tool used to back up the simulation experiences throughout camp. I referred to the Smart. guide during reflection exercises and it aided me especially during the achievement gap discussion session,” said Molly Messner, 2010-2011 NYLC Youth Advisory Council member.
In addition to developing an understanding about the achievement gap, participants took part in a 24-hour team-building immersion, a Morals and Ethics simulation, and a Courageous Conversations seminar that touched on equity, stereotypes, and perception of difference.
“Morals and Ethics was my favorite piece of the entire [experience]. To watch each camper unravel their feelings before the others is a true testament to the raw emotions encountered during this simulation,” reflects Messner.
After participants were grounded in the complexity of the achievement gap, they went off-site to see how local Minnesota-based organizations, including the Minnesota Alliance with Youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Twin Cities, and Heart of the Beast Theater Co., are working to close the achievement gap.
Building a Sense of Community
Team-building, as well as an appreciation for diversity, also served as a consistent theme throughout the week. Participants and staff represented diverse ethnic, cultural, and geographic backgrounds and shared their perspectives during Cultural Nights. These nights featured meals and presentations, such as Hmong language and dance, Indian history, and Zimbabwean culture.
“I also met interesting people and made valuable bonds with friends who share the same passion as me for service-learning,” said Mahati Pidaparti, senior at Wayzata High School and member of NYLC’s Youth Advisory Council.
Taking it Home
At the closing banquet, alumni and friends joined to reflect and celebrate the week’s work.
Dwayne Lowman, a 1993 alumni of the program, spoke on the importance of persistence in the face of challenges while working to make change at home, and also reminded attendees at the event: “Service is not a one-way street.”
Over the course of the next school year, participants will be working in partnership with adult mentors to implement the service-learning action plans they created at NYLT. Though the achievement gap continues to affect countless schools and communities across the nation, this group of young leaders now have the knowledge and tools required to spread awareness and create real change.
