How Does Working in Youth-Adult Partnership Reflect True Participatory Democracy?

Read the report and view documentation from UP's Joint Learning Agreement with the Kettering Foundation

Learn more about the projects that UP documented in the written report.

Burlington School District's Youth and Family Engagement Team

Youth from the Winooski School District's Antiracism Steering Committee Speak with Representative Becca Balint

SPOTLIGHT ON: Getting to "Y" Grows in New Hampshire!

In late January and early February, teams from two New Hampshire school communities attended Getting to ‘Y’ training retreats. These groups of youth and adults learned community building, data analysis, and facilitation skills that they will use when they host data analysis retreats in their own communities, helping them make meaning out of their schools’ Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data.

On January 25th, youth in grades 5-9 and adults from area schools in Lebanon – Rivendell Academy, Indian River Middle School, Newport Middle School, and Kearsarge Middle School – gathered for their retreat. These teams were hosted by Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center through their Public Health Network. On February 8th, a group from Portsmouth High School met in the town’s public library. This team is sponsored by the Pinetree Institute, a non-profit focused on addressing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) through trauma responsive approaches. The New Hampshire groups will each host local data analysis retreats and community dialogue events and make action plans to improve youth health and well-being.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Restorative Practices at Williston Central School

The Williston Central School Youth and Adult Team met on February 8th for their fifth retreat. During the gathering, the team explored the difference between punitive and restorative approaches to conflict, learned about peer mediation and youth justice panels, and continued planning for several DEI-oriented school initiatives. The team is composed of several adult staff members, Principal Jaqueline Parks, and 20 5th-8th grade students.

After taking part in a community building activity, the team engaged in an activity from Teaching Restorative Practices in the Classroom, developed by the Center for Restorative Process for San Francisco Unified School District, discussing a typical scenario that could occur in a school setting: one youth brings a backpack to school with a bag of chips in it. When they are not looking, without their permission, another youth takes the chips from their backpack. Later, this same youth shares the chips with a third youth, and does not tell them where they came from. In small groups, the team answered the following questions: Who is affected in this scenario? How are people affected (which includes what we mean by “affected”)? What are restorative actions—things that can make things right— without over-reliance on punishment?

Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability Featured in National Education Policy Center Newsletter!

Sustainability and the environment are top issues for young people. For this reason, they are a promising way to encourage civic engagement, helping to fulfill public education’s mission of preparing youth for their roles as citizens in a democratic society. A recent peer-reviewed article presents a case study of Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability, a statewide effort in Vermont that does just that.

Read the Article Here