Scenes from the UP summer retreat | Maisie, Foluke, Folami, Amara, Jackie, Lindsey, Ana | |
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Dear UP partners and friends,
I hope you have found time to care for yourself this summer. At UP, we have spent time reflecting on the 2021-2022 academic year, refreshing our resources and facilitation tools, and connecting with our newest UP team members (see more about our newest member, Katie below).
Relationships are at the core of our work. In 2020, when we were feeling more disconnected than ever by the pandemic and societal unrest, several UP team members took part in the pilot of Listening 4 Justice (L4J). This experience was transformative in so many ways for UP. Perhaps most important, the relationships we developed through Zoom with people across the country were deep, and these connections have continued over the past two years. This summer, members of the UP team had a chance to travel to Atlanta to present at a conference. While there, we were SO grateful to visit with our L4J family in their hometown (see the picture below).
The full UP team spent a day in July connecting with the land and one another at our summer retreat. It is incredible to witness the growth of our dynamic team, and being together provided time for us to think about how we continue to grow and share our work with more educational communities while maintaining what is most special about UP - our deep relationships with youth and adults.
I hope you are flourishing this summer and look forward to hearing from you!
Lindsey
|  | L4J Family: Amara, Lindsey, Maisie, Foluke, Folami | | |
Please Welcome Katie Ingraham as UP's New Program Director! | |
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Katie is a dedicated sustainable leadership professional working to actualize a vision of education where youth feel engaged with the world around them, where justice is centered, where many ways of knowing and learning are honored, and where communities thrive. She is joining UP for Learning after working for seven years in the Vermont public education setting. She started teaching youth as an AmeriCorps member at an outdoor high school program and outdoor preschool program in Addison County. For the past four years she started and ran a restorative drop-in space where students would self-advocate to work, take breaks, or check-ins with a trusted adult at a middle school in Washington County. Her previous professional practice has focused on building relationships with youth and adults that are transformative and meaningful.
Katie is a person who centers love and collaboration in her work. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Leadership for Sustainability from the University of Vermont in 2021. Katie loves learning and connecting with the youth and world around her. She enjoys basket weaving, yoga, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and swimming. She lives in Richmond, Vermont with her husband Samuel and her dog Nim.
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Interested in Partnering with UP to Reimagine and Transform Your School Community?
Check Out Our Offerings for 2022-2023
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RESOURCES FOR YOUTH AND ADULTS: | |
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This will be an all-inclusive summit aiming to bring new and established voices together from across Vermont -- anyone serving on local commissions, taking the lead or stand in their community, or who is engaged in advancing a positive future for their town, city, or state is invited to come explore ways to support local leadership and democracy. The Summit agenda will include skills workshops, networking opportunities, community project panels, and forum discussions to:
- Reflect on challenges, opportunities, and successes of the past two years;
- Share highlights of local leadership, community initiatives, and civic engagement;
- Network and connect with leaders across Vermont;
- Learn critical community engagement and project development skills;
- Identify strategies to support and advance a diversity of local leaders to renew civic engagement, trust, civility, and community connection.
Register TODAY!
Visit www.vtrural.org/Summit22 for more information and to register.
UP's youth leaders will be presenting a session called:
Youth Driving Change: Youth-Led Community Initiatives Around the State
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CALL FOR TEEN PERFORMERS & ARTISTS! Singers, Actors, Dancers, Musicians, Visual Artists, Writers, Poets, PERFORMERS in any stretch of the imagination - let's build an original show!! Many thanks to Senator Sanders and Vermont Afterschool for opening this portal to possibility for TEENS IN THE GREATER BTV AREA: In partnership with Media Factory, In Tandem Arts will host EPOCH GENERATION as a creative space to generate new narratives for the new epoch of performance. Love theater? Music? Dance? Mixing new media and live performance we will meet in Burlington's South End Arts District from 3:30-6:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays to create an original production. Rehearsal period is 10 weeks and the show will premiere in early December. Dinner and bus passes will be included in the cost of tuition and scholarships are available. Let's make this happen -- please spread the word!
Visit http://www.intandemarts.com or email info@intandemarts.com to explore a plethora of performance possibilities in the coming year. And please pass along this video to any cool teens you think may be interested!
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