Youth Advise on Education Policy Initiative

NYLC’s Youth Advisory Council is expanding its reach, offering trainings on how young people can address the achievement gap — the disparity between the performance of groups of students, especially groups as defined by gender, race, ethnicity, ability, and socioeconomic status — on a range of educational measures.

Recently, four YAC members trained other high school students from the upper Midwest region who had gathered at the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus for the annual PeaceJam Slam, a daylong leadership event sponsored by the regional nonprofit youthrive. The annual event offers students who participate in a yearlong service-learning curriculum focused on peace-making and the lives of Nobel laureates the opportunity to gain skills by attending workshops and networking with students from a five-state area.

NYLC’s Youth Advisory Council members Pajnucci Vue, Annie Wood, Mahati Pidaparti, and Daniel Werwhein made up the local YAC member team that facilitated two interactive learning sessions entitled “Competing for Equality.”

“It was so cool to see people having those "a-ha" moments...especially when participants made real-world connections to the inequities in our society,” said Wood, adding that this was her first workshop facilitation experience.

During the workshop, participants competed in a trading game meant to simulate the disparities between different social classes. Both sessions allowed time for group reflection to discuss the connections between the simulation and how social classes are perceived in the real world.

This reflection sparked passionate debate; many students had strong opinions of what social justice meant to them. Said Wood: "Sometimes achievement isn't determined by efforts, but [by] where you start out. It was so powerful to see these discussions that aren't always comfortable or easy, but lead to addressing why the gap exists and what to do in a really meaningful way."

As Vue, a Highland Park High School student in St. Paul, said: "I really enjoyed Peace Jam Slam because it was a huge congregation of youth coming together to promote something so simple, yet so complicated: peace. Knowing that so many others are just as motivated — if not more — about doing something meaningful was so inspiring."

Learn more about the YAC.
Learn more about Youthrive and PeaceJam.