Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool Programs: An Interview with RYSE's Youth Organizing Director

Source: www.medium.com

By Sam Piha

According to the Afterschool Alliance, “The afterschool field is an essential partner in ensuring that all children have the ability to participate in immersive, relevant, and hands-on civic engagement opportunities.” Not only are civic engagement strategies participatory strategies, they contribute to the positive development of youth and the health of our democracy. 

Because young people often have the desire, energy and idealism to do something about the injustice they see in the world, they are powerful agents for change.” - Marianne Stenger, 10 Ways Authentic Learning Is Disrupting Education

We are continuing to post a series of blogs to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to start today infusing civic engagement and activism in their afterschool program. NOTE: There are many program resources on the topic, some of which are detailed in our paper, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Expanded Learning Programs. You can view previous blogs from this series here. You can also view a recent recording of our webinar we held on this topic here.

In this blog we interview the Youth Organizing Director from RYSE Youth Center. Jamileh Ebrahimi has been the Youth Organizing Director since 2012. In this role, she builds a vibrant youth organizing culture both at the Center and in the Richmond community.

Jamileh Ebrahimi

Q: Please describe your civic engagement/ activism activities (activity purpose, activity description and resources/ materials needed).

A: Over the past decade, RYSE has been reminding those in power that young people are paying attention to how the conditions in California and West Contra Costa County (WCCC) affect them and their families’ lives. RYSE leads mobilization work that builds youth leadership and works to pass progressive local and statewide legislation that positively impacts BIYOC (Black, Indigenous, Youth of Color).  RYSE's young people ages 13-21 engage in campaign planning, peer education, community outreach, narrative shifting and storytelling, voter/civic engagement (voter registration, phone banking and door-to-door canvassing) and local/statewide advocacy efforts. Youth organizing efforts target our city council, school district, criminal legal system, and local/statewide health, housing, education, and economic funding/policy decisions. 

RYSE is part of multiple coalitions with youth representatives in leadership roles locally and statewide that support our local civic education and voter mobilization/registration efforts. Partnerships currently held with youth justice organizations, school districts, education advocacy organizations, and civic mobilization organizations in the region build a shared understanding of the voter power ecosystem in Contra Costa County.

Q: How do you prepare staff to lead civic engagement and youth activism activities? 

A: RYSE hosts three separate week-long staff development sessions annually, in addition to multiple training opportunities provided for all staff throughout the year. Training includes, but is not limited to: restorative justice, non-violent communication, adolescent brain development, lobbying rules for non-profits, gender justice, and more. RYSE leverages our partnerships with Power California Alliance and the YO! California Network, for additional training and capacity building support covering youth organizing, campaigns and integrated civic/voter engagement.

Q: Who is the target audience for these activities?

A: RYSE serves young people, ages 13-21 and engages over 700 young people annually (98% identify as BIYOC, 14% LGBTQ, 75% low income), centering their experience and expertise. Our voter engagement activities target young voters, 18-34 years old.

Q: Why do you offer these activities and why do kids join?

A: Too often in communities like WCCC, where atmospheric violence and harmful health outcomes are prevalent, BIYOC are seen as deficits rather than assets to their communities. In contrast, RYSE views young people as capable of prioritizing what is needed for their lives and communities and of leading needed change efforts. WCCC is a region navigating ongoing disinvestment, particularly in neighborhoods where BIPOC families live. 

We seek to address the need for more young people in policy, electoral, and civic engagement spaces pushing for accountability in the decision-making processes that impact their lives. Youth-led and community-led framing of policy decisions can better ensure that daily, ongoing, and acute needs are met and reconciliatory practices are established to undo the exclusions and harms they and their communities have experienced.

Source: RYSE

Q: What benefits do kids accrue?

A: RYSE’s Theory of Liberation (ToL) works to transform systems so that BIYOC feel loved. It supports BIYOC’s leadership to spark community transformation on issues impacting their well-being. The ToL asserts RYSE’s values and principles, and guides our outcomes:

• Youth have emotional, physical, and political safety to acquire tools, skills, and resources they need to understand and change inequities;
• Youth feel loved with the emotional, physical and political safety to acquire the tools, skills and resources they need to understand and change inequities;
• Young people construct their own narrative and those of their communities;
• Systems transformation by youth committed to a platform for liberation in which cultural work and race are central;
• Develop an expanded hub for youth movement building, power building, arts and culture, and protection against further displacement called RYSE Commons. 

Q: Please describe any challenges you encounter.

A: Last year, our voter and civic engagement activities were impacted due to the global pandemic. Traditional voter outreach efforts, like door-to-door canvassing, volunteer mobilizations, peer-to-peer voter (pre)registration and in-person community events, were limited. We were able to test out new virtual strategies with our Census outreach and education, including virtual phone banking and activities and events were primarily held virtually. We increase our online education efforts utilizing virtual workshops, social media and producing our first-ever voter guide developed by RYSE youth and staff. 

Q: Can you offer any tips to others?

A: Please read our statement - Solidarity with Black Youth Organizers: A Call to Adult Allies, for ways to show up for Black young people and young people of color to support their physical and political safety. For more information on our work or to schedule a tour, presentation or training, please contact: info@rysecenter.org.  

Jamileh Ebrahimi has been the Youth Organizing Director at RYSE Youth Center since 2012. As Youth Organizing Director, she builds a vibrant youth organizing culture both at the Center and in the Richmond community. Jamileh is deeply committed to education, organizing, organizational and community sustainability, and movement building, and through her 18+ years of community organizing, she has discovered the importance of community empowerment, healthy living, and justice. She works to ensure that young people serve as key stakeholders and decision-makers on issues and policies impacting their individual and collective health and well-being.

ABOUT RYSE: RYSE Youth Center creates safe spaces grounded in social justice for young people to love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities. RYSE Youth Center was born out of a youth organizing movement initiated in 2000 in response to a string of homicides near Richmond High School. Students organized more than 1,500 youth and adult community members to address the lack of safety at school and in the community. Young people, local officials, and stakeholders partnered to comprehensively assess youth- identified priorities and solutions. RYSE had served over 5,000 youth members and reached 10,000 more through outreach, and community events in Richmond and West Contra Costa County. 

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker’s Forum on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Afterschool as a Teacher Pathway. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage OST leaders on how best to develop/join and promote an afterschool to teacher pathway. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas from educational and OST leaders. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

We have also released a new briefing paper on this topic, which can be viewed and downloaded here.

Today marks the first day of our How Kids Learn Foundation Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign! Through November, we will be asking for donations to continue our work in 2022. To learn more and donate, click here.

Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool Programs: An Interview with a Youth Activist

Source: We the People (Netflix)

By Sam Piha

According to the Afterschool Alliance, “The afterschool field is an essential partner in ensuring that all children have the ability to participate in immersive, relevant, and hands-on civic engagement opportunities.” Not only are civic engagement strategies participatory strategies, they contribute to the positive development of youth and the health of our democracy. 

Not only do young people have the capacity to understand the world around them, they have the capacity to lead it.” - Gabe Abdellatif, youth contributor and former trustee, America’s Promise Alliance 

We will post a series of blogs to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to start today infusing civic engagement and activism in their afterschool program. NOTE: There are many program resources on the topic, some of which are detailed in our paper, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Expanded Learning Programs. You can view previous blogs from this series here. You can also view a recent recording of our webinar on this topic here.

In this blog we interview a youth activist. Ann Guiam (she/they) is a 20 year old Filipinx youth, from San Pablo/Richmond, CA who currently works with RYSE Youth Center.

Ann Guiam

Q: How did you become active in social causes?

A: Growing up, I always hear about the social issues that have impacted my homeland, the Philippines, and further into the issues here in the US. I’ve joined programs and opportunities that have helped me expand my social justice awareness. During my sophomore year of high school, our school Richmond High, was one of the local high schools in our district to call on action regarding the election results in 2016. The impact and rage it created in my community showed me how powerful we can be to make a change. It wasn’t only adults, the majority of those who showed up and marched in the streets to city hall were youth. The unity I witnessed and experienced motivated me to seek opportunities where I can further see, hear, and be with my community to move into great changes.

In my junior year, I had the opportunity to take on “artivism” by crafting a quilt through the Social Justice Sewing Academy, touching on the issues of gun violence across the nation, by visualizing and questioning the “beauty” of this country, in spite of all the violence impacting the lives of people, majority being the BBIPOC community, both directly and indirectly, while honoring the lives harmed and lost. Later in the school year, the Richmond Youth Organizing Team internship of RYSE was introduced to students through outreach of our Youth Coordinator, Diana Diaz. After learning about this opportunity, I realized this is my time and opportunity to get more involved with social justice and community organizing. As of now, I have been involved with RYSE since April 2018, during which time I have become a youth intern, where I gained connections and a chosen family, with people who were also driven and empowered to be a voice for their community. Now as a staff member, I am a Youth Organizing Program Assistant at RYSE, continuing to be a radical youth and community organizer in Richmond. 

Q: What are you working on currently? 

A: Currently I am co-planning a summer internship opportunity for youth in Richmond, where they can have a collective space and they can learn and discuss the roots and values of abolition, while getting to know Richmond and creating a space for healing, culture and resilience. Youth also will have the opportunity to create their own transformative campaign and policy for local societal issues. 

Aside from this work, I am also part of the Youth Anti-Displacement, which is a cohort of Bay Area organizations who are currently working on projects to spread awareness on displacement currently happening in the Bay Area. 

Q: In your view, why is youth voice and youth activism important? 

A: Hearing, seeing, and feeling youth take action and step out, is one of the most beautiful things to witness in our existence. The power youth hold and deliver is one of the ingredients to liberation. Youth voices are important because we are loud and proud, we are straightforward and know what we want to change. The resilience youth have shown lately is the epiphany of youth power and activism. Youth activism involves actions and views that can be thought of as the alternative perspective to how others may approach certain issues. Youth voices cannot be lowered down because we find ways to be heard, youth are not afraid to stand up for others, and see things fall down. We know a lot of things that are happening will be in our hands until we grow old, we don't only look back at the past to change it anymore, now we make the present matter the most, for it will determine the future. 

Q: What advice do you have for afterschool programs who want to provide opportunities for youth to become civically engaged?

A: Encourage youth to decide and take action. Whether it is choosing topics to discuss, or choosing an activity set from their interest in social justice. Seek spaces where they will feel like they belong. Set opportunities where there can be workshops that help youth create their pathways to be involved through their own identities, culture, and challenges. Always acknowledge their own curiosity to things whether it's through their families, friends, schools or communities, where they can find involvement and awareness.

Q: What activities and issues do you think youth are most interested in?

A: Right now a lot of youth have been interested in learning more about issues on police brutality, racial injustice, environmental injustice, broken healthcare systems, along with other systemic issues; food insecurity, and more. Activities that can tie into these issues can be a workshop for Know Your Rights, learning about systems and how it leads to the Prison Industrial Complex, and more. Other activities can also include ways youth can develop leadership skills and individual skills they want to have or improve, anything that can support their growth and self-power. 

Q: Looking ahead, what are your plans for continuing your activism? 

A: I see myself getting more involved in my community, through RYSE and other opportunities that may come my way. Richmond or elsewhere, I will continue to walk with the movement locally happening, finding more ways to serve our youth, adults, and elders. Continuing to be resilient, be with community, seek and make change, keeping the radical fights alive, all through healing and transformative actions, until we reach the liberation our people deserve. 

Ann Guiam (she/they) is a 20 year old Filipinx youth, from San Pablo/Richmond, CA. She started as a youth intern at RYSE at the age of 16. By going through the leadership pipeline of being an intern to fellow, she is now a Youth Organizing Program Assistant at Richmond’s RYSE Youth Center. Ann centers radical organizing for social justice issues by expressing her leadership and diligence through community engagement, youth power advocacy, art (artivism/poetry), fighting against displacement, and more, all with love and solidarity.

ABOUT RYSE: RYSE Youth Center creates safe spaces grounded in social justice for young people to love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities. RYSE Youth Center was born out of a youth organizing movement initiated in 2000 in response to a string of homicides near Richmond High School. Students organized more than 1,500 youth and adult community members to address the lack of safety at school and in the community. Young people, local officials, and stakeholders partnered to comprehensively assess youth- identified priorities and solutions. RYSE had served over 5,000 youth members and reached 10,000 more through outreach, and community events in Richmond and West Contra Costa County. 

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker’s Forum on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Afterschool as a Teacher Pathway. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage OST leaders on how best to develop/join and promote an afterschool to teacher pathway. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas from educational and OST leaders. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

We have also released a new briefing paper on this topic, which can be viewed and downloaded here.

Voices from the Field: Afterschool Workers Who Transitioned into Teaching

By Sam Piha

Source: A Natural Fit: Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teacher Pipelines 

In a previous blog post, we wrote about the importance of afterschool programs representing a pathway to teaching. You can read the previous blog here. We encourage that afterschool leaders discuss this option/ pathway with their afterschool staff.

Below we share quotes from afterschool workers who advanced their career by becoming teachers. These quotes are from an important publication from The Education Trust entitled, A Natural Fit: Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teacher Pipelines. (On a personal note, my career began with work in afterschool programs followed by 10 years of classroom teaching.)

“Even though we were an after-school program, part of the staff was there during the school day, too. So, we did things similar to what a student teacher would do to support daytime teachers in their classrooms. Seeing what teachers did, and taking that knowledge and experience and trying to implement it in the after-school portion of it, made me feel like I could be a teacher, too.” 

“The after-school program let me exert all kinds of my potential. It also brought out my true character of wanting to serve and help people — especially kids and people of the community.” 

“[The after-school/OST experience] just made [becoming a teacher] more concrete for me that I wanted to work in my own community, or communities of color.” 

“It was different because I had that experience of connecting with students, especially students from different backgrounds. My other colleagues who didn’t really have experience had a harder time being able to teach the students because they couldn’t make that connection.” 

“It prepared me to work with parents, because as an after-school counselor, we had to connect with families and speak to and communicate with them very often.” 

Source: www.collegescholarships.org

“We had groups of students, we had lesson plans, unit plans, curricula, we had to internalize it. There was professional development on teacher voice, teacher presence, warm-strict, classroom management. We weren’t trained as though we were after-school babysitters. We were trained like we were teachers.“ 

“It’s made me think about struggles that the students might face. In the after-school program, I’ve noticed a lot of students who are always hungry, or stuff like that. It’s influenced me to have snacks inside my classroom or to be more understanding of why a certain child is acting a certain way, because there are other outside factors that might be involved.” 

“I absolutely loved building those relationships [in after-school/OST work], having those moments when students came to me to talk about things that were college-related or things that didn’t relate to school at all. Just having someone to relate to because I was someone like them.” 

“[The after-school/OST workers] know the students because they grew up in the same neighborhoods. They know the same police officers. They know the corner stores, they know the supermarkets, they know the libraries, they know what students have access to and what they don’t. So as far as connecting with the actual students, the families, the parents, they thrive. Because it’s one thing to know the school, but to also know your community.” 

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker’s Forum on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Afterschool as a Teacher Pathway. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage OST leaders on how best to develop/join and promote an afterschool to teacher pathway. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas from educational and OST leaders. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

We have also released a new briefing paper on this topic, which can be viewed and downloaded here.

Policy Recommendations to Promote Youth Employment in Afterschool Programs

By Sam Piha

Involving older youth as workers within afterschool programs makes a great deal of sense. Engaging youth in this way addresses their developmental tasks and personal interests, helps develop their workforce skills, offers opportunities for leadership and service to others, and brings youth input, making the program more relevant. 

This is even more important post COVID. A recent study entitled, The State of Youth Employment-Navigating the World of Work During COVID-19 found:

1. Young people in America are struggling—they are financially strained, emotionally drained, and facing significant barriers to employment. 
2. COVID-19 and the related economic recession have disrupted young people’s work lives in myriad ways and prompted extraordinary levels of concern about the future. 
3. The professional connections and supportive relationships that can help young people advance their work-related goals are out of reach for most youth. 
4. Young people’s hope about their future work lives is in jeopardy. 

Afterschool programs can be part of the solution. Based on our conversations with program providers, we offer the following recommendations to policy makers:

1. 
   State departments of education develop and distribute clear policies and guidelines on the use of 21st CCLC funds to engage youth as workers within the afterschool program. They should issue guidelines for the use of government funding to support high school workers within elementary and middle school programs. These guidelines should be designed to encourage, not restrict, programs from using the funds for this purpose. 
2. Document promising practices being successfully used at afterschool programs and share them with those who are seeking to expand their programs’ capacity to engage youth as workers. This can be done by those who support the implementation of high school afterschool programs, including state afterschool networks, and those who receive technical assistance funds from private sources. 
3. Identify supplemental funding to support career pathways to engage older youth working within afterschool settings. If needed, policy changes should be enacted to encourage access or eliminate any barriers impeding access to these funds by afterschool programs. Identifying funds is a form of technical assistance and can be done by those named in recommendation #2, above. Efforts needed to change policy can be led by afterschool advocacy organizations within your state. 
4. Assist afterschool leaders in identifying and obtaining workforce and other supplemental dollars to support efforts that engage youth as workers in the afterschool setting. If needed, policy changes should be enacted to encourage access or eliminate any barriers impeding access to these funds by afterschool programs. 
5. Incorporate into existing studies or identify dedicated funding to evaluate the efficacy in providing youth with work opportunities within afterschool settings. This can be achieved by local afterschool grantees who are charged with evaluating their programs, as well as larger evaluations that are funded by state departments or private sources. 

We wrote a detailed briefing paper on this topic to guide afterschool programs. The paper entitled, Engaging Youth as Workers Within High School Afterschool Programs, which includes discussion of policies and guidelines regarding youth employment, use of stipends and other forms of compensation. It also includes examples from actual programs and quotes from youth employed in their afterschool program. You can download this briefing paper here.

We also developed a less detailed paper on this topic, which can be downloaded here.

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker’s Forum on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Engaging Youth as Workers in Afterschool. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage afterschool programs to offer youth opportunities to serve as workers within these programs. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas and information to help programs enlist youth as workers. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

The Language of Inclusion and Equity

Source: www.researchgate.net

As we increase the dialogue around inclusion and equity, it is important that we examine the language and terms that we are using. Below are some terms that we often use as synonyms followed by their definitions and differences, courtesy of Karen Pittman and the Forum for Youth Investment (FYI). She later offers some of her thoughts on this. To read her full article, click here.

Equality | Equity. Equality is a good goal given where we are, but it is not at all a sufficient one. Equity is achieved when all kids have a shot at getting the essentials they need to succeed because 1) the differences in their starting points have been taken into account, and 2) the systemic or institutional barriers to their success have been addressed. People often use a baseball analogy to get at equality vs. equity. Equity is achieved when the playing field is leveled and the fences are taken down, providing young people with real opportunities to get into the game. 

Access | Quality. Access is necessary, but far from sufficient and sometimes harmful. Providing young people with opportunities to get into the game is only useful if these opportunities are appropriately structured to support youth success. Opportunities that are mismatched to youth’s capacities and motivations significantly reduce the chance that young people feel that they matter and want to put in the effort to master the game. 

Source: www.sfcenter.org

Completion | Readiness. Grades and diplomas have become necessary tickets for youth success, but they are not sufficient. 40 percent of employers report that high school graduates lack the competencies they need to succeed at entry-level jobs – such as responsibility, initiative, problem- solving, teamwork and a strong work ethic. When learning opportunities lead too heavily with content and don’t create safe and engaging contexts, youth may gain rote knowledge but miss the opportunity to name, practice and master the skillsets and mindsets that economists now confirm are more important for adult success than academic grades. 

Readiness, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as 1) being willing to do something, and 2) being prepared to do something. This dual definition is important. To embrace the opportunities and survive the challenges that come their way, young people need to be willing and prepared to tackle things they cannot anticipate. This means that every opportunity to learn new content (e.g., how to bake a pie, hit a double, build an engine) is also an opportunity to use the skills and knowledge they have. Young people who “hit the wall” when trying to learn something new have not only internalized the idea that they can’t learn, they have missed the opportunity to use and improve the skills employers are looking for.

 

Source: https://i.imgur.com/aJNHjPq.png

Young people who have repeatedly hit the wall and found that no one notices, no one is surprised, or no one helps, tune out, act out or drop out. Ultimately, they lose out on opportunities they could easily have been prepared for. The cost to them, and to the country, is absurdly large. This is not just because these young people are more likely to earn less or stray into trouble more. It is because these young people are the ones best suited to change the odds in their communities. They are willing, if asked. They can be ready, if supported. History shows that they are able. 

To tackle the country’s readiness problem, we also have to address equity issues. And when the path to readiness goes through quality, young people not only build skills and competencies, they develop a sense of agency and a sense of urgency to take action to change the odds for themselves and their communities.  

Karen J. Pittman served as the President & CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment (FYI) until February 2021 then transitioned to a senior fellow role to dedicate more of her time and energy to thought leadership. FYI is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” that combines thought leadership on youth development, youth policy, cross-system/cross-sector partnerships and developmental youth practice with on-the-ground training, technical assistance and support. Karen is a respected sociologist and leader in youth development. Prior to co-founding the Forum in 1998, she launched adolescent pregnancy prevention initiatives at the Children’s Defense Fund, started the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, and served as senior vice president at the International Youth Foundation. She was involved in the founding of America’s Promise and directed the President’s Crime Prevention Council during the Clinton administration.

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker's Forum on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to offer youth opportunities to be civically engaged. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas and information. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

We are hosting another webinar/ Speaker’s Forum on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Engaging Youth as Workers in Afterschool. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage afterschool programs to offer youth opportunities to serve as workers within these programs. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas and information to help programs enlist youth as workers. To learn more and register, click the banner below.

Four Things You Can Do Right Now to Promote Meaningful Participation in Afterschool

By Sam Piha

Research tells us that if we hope to make a difference in young people’s learning, we need to provide opportunities for learning that is meaningful. This is especially important as youth return to afterschool programs after a year of isolation.  

If young people are engaged in meaningful participation, they are empowered to be self-directed, make responsible choices about how to use their time, and participate as group members in making decisions that influence the larger program and what they learn about. 

Four more things you can do right now to promote meaningful participation:

1. Leadership: Learning is more meaningful when young people have opportunities to act as leaders in the learning activities. This includes eliciting the prior knowledge that youth already have and building in opportunities for youth to act as leaders in other ways – passing out materials, leading activities, etc. 

2. Youth as helpers: Young people can be trained to effectively assist peers during homework time and during other activities. Try to give every child or young person an opportunity to help another, so that some aren’t always in the helper position and others always in the position of being helped. Newcomers to the program can be assigned buddies to show them around the room, explain ground rules, and help them learn the routine. You can also teach a skill to a small group, and then “deputize” them to teach others. Older youth are also excellent helpers for younger children, and the helper role often brings out the best in them. Duties can include serving as “reading buddies,” homework helpers, escorts, or making informational presentations to the younger groups. Providing service to the larger community is also an excellent way for young people to apply their planning and leadership skills, while experiencing how their efforts impact others. (For ideas about engaging youth as helpers within high school afterschool and summer programs, see Engaging Youth as Workers Within High School Afterschool Programs: A Briefing Paper and other resources.  

3. Use portfolios to help participants reflect on their progress and accomplishments: If your participants have consistent enrollment over time or if participants engage in long-term projects where they increase their skills on- going, consider how you might collect their work over time. You can create a portfolio or personal file with your young participants to serve as an on-going record of their work. After several months or at the end of a project sit down with them to review their record of accomplishments. What do they think about it? What does their portfolio reflect back to them? What kinds of records can be stored? For younger children, it might be a portfolio of self portraits that were done monthly, or simply their own file they use over time to store things they have done that they are proud of. For older youth who might be developing a set of skills over time, say in the arts or technology, communicate your project learning goals and ask them to develop personal learning goals, if appropriate. Assist them in assessing which goals they have met over time.

4. Plan a project that will benefit the community: Clean up or plant trees or flowers at a local park, speak out at a public forum on a youth or community issue, visit elders at the senior center, serve snacks at a neighborhood fair, design and paint a mural… the possibilities are endless! Try to match projects to the interests of the young people, and look for existing programs that can help you prepare young people for a meaningful experience. 

Below is a good program example of meaningful participation:

Summer Bridge Program; Valley High School (Grades 9 – 12); Santa Ana School District; Santa Ana, CA; Operated by THINK Together 

This Summer Bridge program targets incoming high school freshmen and operates 5 hours a day for 4 weeks. Participants choose their first activity in their high school enrichment class. A goal of the program is to give freshman information and skills that prepare them to manage their first year in high school. These participants are particularly engaged when they learn that the High School Life Lessons component is designed and led by high school age Youth Leaders. 

Youth Leaders are trained prior to the start of the Summer Bridge program. They learn how their participation in the program will impact incoming freshmen along with trainings on class management, lesson planning and relationship building. In the summer, they are responsible for choosing the information and lesson plans they believe will best prepare their incoming freshmen for high school life. They also choose the themes and field trips for the program, with their students’ best interest in mind. Other Youth Leaders choose to serve as student teachers, teacher’s aides, tardy sweepers, and lesson planners. They also serve as mentors to the incoming freshmen. 

To learn more see our Youth Development Guide 2.0. This 165- page guide is available as a free download or can be ordered as a spiral bound, hard copy.

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker's Forum on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to offer youth opportunities to be civically engaged. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas and information.

Discussion Topics:

• Importance Of Youth Civic Engagement / Activism for Youth Development
• Benefits To Youth and the Program
• Challenges
• Legal/Regulatory Issues
• Tips For Program Leaders
• How Best To Prepare Staff/Youth
• What Would Help Afterschool Leaders Going Forward? (Guidance, Models, Policies, etc.)

To learn more and register for this Speaker's Forum, click here.

Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool Programs (Part 3): Why Youth Participate

By Sam Piha

We are continuing to post a series of blogs to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to start today infusing civic engagement and activism in their afterschool program. NOTE: There are many program resources on the topic, some of which are detailed in our paper, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Expanded Learning Programs. You can view part 1 of this series here and part 2 here. We also held a webinar on this topic which can be viewed here.

Below, we explore why youth participate in civic engagement and activism activities.

Urban youth collectively respond to community and school problems through youth organizing, spoken word, volunteering, and participation in civic affairs. Organizations in urban communities can provide youth with opportunities to and develop critical civic praxis through engagement with ideas, social networks, and experiences that build individual collective capacity to struggle for social justice. This view of youth acknowledges structural constraints in their communities, but also views young people as active participants in changing debilitative neighborhood conditions.”– Shawn Ginwright and Julio Cammarota 

There have been many studies examining the reasons why youth participate in civic engagement and activism activities. Below we offer some highlights from selected studies focusing on why youth participate.

From Reasons Youth Engage in Activism Programs: Social Justice or Sanctuary?

“Participants attend youth activism programs for social justice work, but also for sanctuary and peer/adult relationships. Youth defined sanctuary as a protected space but also a place that celebrates aspects of identity. Sanctuary and social justice work were intertwined as reasons for attending. Both sanctuary and social justice motivations should be considered in designing youth activism programs.” 

From Researchers Study What Motivates Rural LGBTQ Youths to Take Part in Activism 

“Helping others and reducing discrimination for future generations were the top concerns. Many respondents indicated the issues they care about affected their friends, so they fought on their behalf as well. Others said they had lived or are still living through various forms of discrimination or harassment, and they want to ensure future generations of LGBTQ individuals do not face the same problems. Generativity, or working across generations, was a key issue. Some respondents indicated they had an older mentor who helped guide them through difficult times. Others did not and wanted to ensure they could act in that role for younger individuals.”

It's great that we have marriage equality, but there are many other forms of oppression still happening. I think these young people weren't just worried about what was happening to them but issues that affected others as well.”– Mike Krings 

From What Teens Gain When They Contribute to Their Social Groups 

“Adolescents, it turns out, are remarkably well adapted to contribute to others. Adolescence is a time of massive restructuring in the brain, creating a faster, more efficient system. Neuroimaging studies show that the neural networks that change most significantly during adolescence are the same networks activated by contributing to others.  For example, the “social brain”—the intricate network of areas in the brain that activate in social interactions—matures rapidly during the adolescent years. This development increases young people’s ability to understand the feelings and perspectives of other people. Adolescents’ advancing cognitive maturity allows them to consider the complex dynamics of other people’s competing perspectives and needs to determine whom and how to help. 

Another area changing during these years is the “reward system,” which increases the positive feelings teens get from new and exciting experiences. This is the brain area most commonly implicated in adolescent risk taking, which strikes fear in the hearts of many parents. But evidence suggests that the same brain changes involved in adolescent rebelliousness and risk taking also drive kind and helpful behaviors, such as contributing.”

From Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Expanded Learning Programs 

YOUTH ACTIVISTS ON WHAT ACTIVITIES AND ISSUES THEY THINK YOUTH ARE MOST INTERESTED IN:

“Most recently, I think youth have been invested in gun violence, given the many incidents that have rocked our nation. Following Parkland, many young people created groups and organizations that are still doing meaningful work in their communities. Some other areas of interest for youth, I think are: criminal justice reform, sexual assault and harassment, and education (especially in places where schools are underfunded and under resourced).” - Ivan Garcia, Youth Activist (We interviewed Ivan in 2019. Read the full interview here).

“Right now, a lot of youth have been interested in learning more about issues on police brutality, racial injustice, environmental injustice, broken healthcare systems, along with other systemic issues, food insecurity, and more. Activities that can tie into these issues can be a workshop for Know Your Rights, learning about systems and how it leads to the Prison Industrial Complex, and more. Other activities can also include ways youth can develop leadership skills and individual skills they want to have or improve, anything that can support their growth and self-power.” - Ann Guiam, Youth Activist 

We are hosting a webinar/ Speaker's Forum on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 10:00am- 12:00pm (PST) entitled, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Afterschool. The purpose of this webinar is to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to offer youth opportunities to be civically engaged. It is our intention to capture and share valuable and intriguing ideas and information.

Discussion Topics:

• Importance Of Youth Civic Engagement / Activism for Youth Development
• Benefits To Youth and the Program
• Challenges
• Legal/Regulatory Issues
• Tips For Program Leaders
• How Best To Prepare Staff/Youth
• What Would Help Afterschool Leaders Going Forward? (Guidance, Models, Policies, etc.)

To learn more and register for this Speaker's Forum, click here.

Youth Voice and Self-Expression in Afterschool: Art Projects

By Sam Piha

Source: www.icavictoria.org

Providing opportunities for youth to reflect on and express their thoughts and feelings are a critical strategy for any afterschool program. This is especially important as youth return to afterschool programs after a year of isolation.  

These opportunities are essential to promoting youth voice, healthy youth development, social emotional skills and resiliency, especially those who have experienced trauma. Strategies and activities include sharing circles, poetry and spoken word, journaling, videography, art and the theater arts.

Practicing art is a transformative experience that not only gives each student the ability to objectively look within but also critically look at the world. Through various media, art teachers are able to teach the core values of  perseverance, community and belonging, respect, and critical thinking on a daily basis." - Bryan Stanton, Alamo Heights High School, "Building Character Through the Arts"

We interviewed Martha Peña (Coordinator, Expanded Learning Programs Community Schools & Student Services, Oakland Unified School District) on the importance of using art projects to promote youth voice and self- expression. Below are some of her responses.

Martha Peña, OUSD

Q: Why is it important to provide youth with opportunities to reflect on and express themselves and their feelings?
A: It's essential to give students the opportunity to express themselves and their feelings in a safe and supportive environment. It's through these experiences that help a child grow and develop. This is why afterschool programs are so important to youth. Afterschool programs provide a safe and supportive space for students to experience new things, reflect on their experiences, and express themselves without the stress of grades, testing, and judgment. Afterschool staff are supportive caring adults that reflect the community and therefore are able to connect with youth.

Q: Do you think that art projects are a good way to provide these opportunities? Why?
A: Art projects provide youth opportunities to express themselves in ways that inspire and spark their creativity. They also help youth process and interpret their feelings and the world around them. It's through these projects that students are able to reflect on their own personal experiences through a variety of mediums from digital storytelling, music, painting, or dance.

Source: www.mommypoppins.com

Q: Do staff need special training?
A: Providing professional opportunities to staff is crucial to ensure the success of the program. Instructors not only need to know how to teach the content but how to connect with youth and encourage them to take risks and feel comfortable in their own skin.

Q: Can you provide one example of an art project that you did that provided youth with good opportunities for self- expression? What age were the kids?
A: In one of the afterschool programs, the site leader supported students as they created a video about their community. Youth share their experiences and how they use Yoga and SEL to help them manage their feelings and stresses. Students were able to reflect on their own experiences and provide advice and support to other students experiencing the same things.

Q: For programs that plan to continue working with their youth through distance learning, can art projects be done virtually? If so, can you give an example?

A: Yes, afterschool art programs can be done virtually and successfully if you have a strong plan. Many afterschool providers distributed materials to students during the Grab & Go meal distribution sites. Each bag contained several art supplies and instructions on when and how to sign on to their virtual classroom. At the end of the lesson, students and instructors held a virtual showcase, where students and their families could log on and see their artwork. This gave grandparents and families the opportunity to be a part of the experience. 

Martha Peña is a coordinator for afterschool programs for Oakland Unified School District. In her role she manages grant requirements and applications for all ASES and 21st CCLC grants, builds systems that ensure equity and sustainability across all afterschool programs, manages city-wide partnerships, and supports the implementation of Social Emotional Learning in all afterschool programs.