The event I attended was the Lights on Afterschool Celebration. It was held on Remo which is a cool online video platform. For the first thirty minutes of the event everyone mingled at different virtual tables with labels such as advocacy, camp, etc. I was confused on how to navigate it at first but once I learned it was really cool and engaging to be able to table hop virtually and speak with different people about different topics. After we mingled the host Ayana introduced several guest speakers throughout the event. There were a few organizations that I was not too familiar with but learned more about. The first organization was Equity working groups. Their goal is create more equitable programs. They critique lesson plans and make them fair. One thing one of the speakers said was "Make time for the work.. Can't find time...Make time" and I really liked that because sometimes we get busy, have a busy/full schedule and feel like we don't have time for anything else but when you want something so bad and are passionate about it you can and will make the time for it.
The second organization that I thought was very creative and involved is the PVD young makers. The speaker Keith said "Students deserve not just a seat at the table but a seat the decision making table" and I couldn't agree more. It's so important for young people to not only be able to express their wants and needs but to be able to put that to action and be apart of the conversation and change. It's important for youth to be able to help make decisions especially when it could affect them. One of their goals is to grow a community together through making. Together they made t-shirts and pins/badges to support the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement. Through intergenerational collaboration (people of different generations sharing talents and resources and supporting each other in relationships that benefit both the individuals and community) they teach technical, artistic, design skills and so much more. He also stated that the students teach them and they teach the students and I thought that was really important as well. Just because you're the teacher doesn't mean you know everything or share the same perspective as someone else. It's nice when you're able to share ideas and see what others think/know, you can learn a lot.
Lastly, the organization ARISE is the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education. Their mission is to prepare, promote and empower Rhode Islands Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. Something the speaker talked about that stood out to me was her talking about POLICE FREE SCHOOLS. Arise and two other organizations actually started "PASS" The Providence Alliance for Student Safety. They started PASS to fight for safe and healthy schools that treat youth with dignity and respect. They want all school resource officers removed from Providence schools. They want Provide schools to hire health and safety staff focused on alternative measures of conflict resolution. They also want to increase the number of support staff in school. Below is the link for more details regarding PASS and their reasoning for wanting police/security officers removed from schools.
These organizations connect to Youth Development in many ways. For one YDEV is a very creative space where when we are in person we have activities where we create/make things and connect with each other. In YDEV we teach each other and learn from one another. The students lead with the teachers. We are a community just like the organizations listed above. Our Anchors are Care, Identity, Advocacy & Social Justice and Leading With. These organizations represent all those anchors in different ways. All of the organizations listed above offer so much and are really great.
PVD Young Makers - https://pvdyoungmakers.com/making-and-learning/
Arise - http://www.ariseducation.org/strategic-plan
Learn more about "PASS" - https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/counselors-not-cops-policefreeschools?fbclid=IwAR1XDUuM-aRH6eyyprNB3UWvg1tCskUNzJZxMDMS-ngr3oae6LYnJgu6AMA
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