{"id":12535,"date":"2020-04-13T01:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/?post_type=cw_post&p=12535"},"modified":"2020-04-13T05:28:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T09:28:23","slug":"virtual-youth-summit-supports-student-agency-and-community-building-during-covid-19-school-closures","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/virtual-youth-summit-supports-student-agency-and-community-building-during-covid-19-school-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Youth Summit Supports Student Agency and Community-Building During COVID-19 School Closures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MasteryLiving and Learning During A Pandemic<\/em> is the theme of an online youth summit being organized by the Mastery Collaborative<\/a>, a network of student-centered schools in New York City that use culturally responsive-sustaining<\/a> and mastery-based practices. The youth summit is a terrific strategy for centering student voice and community-building during the COVID-19 school closures.<\/p>\n

The Spring 2020 Youth Summit is structured as a daily video chat this week on Monday through Thursday from 3:00-4:00 pm. It\u2019s billed as \u201cConversations, Surveys, and Leadership Training\u2014in a student-centered, collaborative, generative, anti-racist, egalitarian online space.\u201d They encourage students to participate, and \u201cone adult from each school may join to support\/listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

I exchanged emails with Joy Nolan, Director of the Mastery Collaborative, who shared valuable context and rationale for the youth summit: \u201cThe pandemic is hitting NYC very hard right now, and there is a lot of fear. The familiar patterns of daily life are upended, a huge number of people are losing jobs, and many have lost and will lose people they love. Students are taking in all of this while grappling with learning remotely for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about everything a day of school means for a young person, one thing missing now is all those interactions with friends and peers, feeling like part of a group, finding ways to express your identity, your ideas, your style, among other young people. Students need a space to be together to talk about and process what they are experiencing. Young people have so much to share, so much that needs saying and hearing. We hope the summit can be a chance to share what all this has been like, hear from others, build on ideas, create some clarity, positivity, and hilarity, and have an hour of conversation that flies by, each day. While we\u2019re veering six feet apart, it is also true that we need to be in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summit\u2019s four calls are designed to meet students where they are during the pandemic. The first two calls provide opportunities for students to share their current experiences, coping mechanisms, and feelings about remote learning. The final two calls move on to building students\u2019 leadership skills and supporting their desire to take positive action. Equity is at the forefront of the Mastery Collaborative\u2019s work<\/a> and informs the summit\u2019s format and substance. The proposed contents of the four calls are:<\/p>\n

DAY 1 \u2013 What\u2019s Happening? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Our city is battling a worldwide pandemic crisis. What is happening for you, your family, your community? How are you feeling? What issues are on your mind? What experience do you want to share? How are you coping, and what makes you feel better? How can we see our experience in a larger context? Who or what is helping? What do you hope for?<\/p>\n

DAY 2 \u2013 What and How Are You Learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is remote learning like so far? How is it the same as\/different from regular school? What do you get from a day in school vs. from remote learning? What do you miss? How are you connecting with teachers, peers? What equity issues are students experiencing with remote learning? How is mastery helping? How are culturally responsive-sustaining practices helping? How should grading be happening?<\/p>\n

DAY 3 \u2013 Leadership Skills 1 \u2013 Building A Network for Student Voice<\/strong><\/p>\n

What power can student voice have right now? What do students need? What issues are most important to YOU (students)? What equity issues do we want to uplift through student voice? What are our change ideas? How can we build community? What advice\/expertise can we share out with each other? What steps can we take as youth advocates? What do decision makers need to hear from students?<\/p>\n

DAY 4 \u2013 Leadership Skills 2 \u2013 Documenting and Sharing Out<\/strong><\/p>\n

How can we create clear goals around the 1-3 issues youth find most pressing? How should we take action? How can youth and adults be partners in making change in our school system, right now? How can we be creative?<\/p>\n

Up to 100 students can participate, and they must submit a media consent form<\/a> signed by parent or guardian if they\u2019re under 18. Speaking of strong equity efforts, the consent forms are also available<\/a> in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. Once the consent form is received, participants receive a registration link.<\/p>\n

\"Group
Student Panelists at a Mastery Collaborative Visit to Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those thinking of developing similar events, some additional logistics are:<\/p>\n