COMMENTS FROM COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS
Urban-Suburban Exchange
Comments from participants in a weekend retreat led by Teen Empowerment youth and staff with students from the Cambridge School of Weston (CSW), 5/28/04
"We're really pleased with the respect and enthusiasm our students have for TE, and their desire to work on social equity issues in continued urban/suburban dialogue. We had 28 students participate and 7 faculty. ... Students from our school are continuing their relationship with Teen Empowerment. Many attended the annual Peace Conference a few weeks ago and others visited Dorchester Education Complex this week. We have plans to invite TE back to our Diversity Program next winter to facilitate new ways of talking among the diverse populations in our own school. ... Please read through this sampling of our participants' responses. These are just a few voices, which reflect the spirit of all of our participants who attended the training weekend."
Joyce Krensky, faculty member
"TE helped me to become more friendly and open to other people. It also helped me learn how to work with other people to find ways to improve my community and the communities around me."
"The part of the weekend that meant the most to me was the discussion on institutional racism. We were in small enough groups to create a conversational environment, but large enough groups to present a wide range of opinions and perspectives. I had an opportunity to challenge myself to play a role in the discussion by questioning others and myself. I had a great time learning about the kids visiting CSW and also learning more about CSW students who I didn't know well. I would definitely accept an opportunity to do something like this again."
"As much as their hearts are in the right place, I worry that the students at our high school lack perspective outside of their own experiences. So bringing them face-to-face with students whose experiences are different than their own is tremendously valuable .The TE leader did a wonderful job of establishing a culture where these two groups could come together and feel safe to speak their mind. That alone would have been enough, but I left the weekend feeling that we had really set the stage for something exciting. All too often, meetings like this generate good ideas but ultimately are too 'big' to lead to action. This past weekend felt like something clicked, that we formed ideas but now also have the skills and excitement to put them into use. I think that something tangible will come from this weekend and that is so exciting. The relationships formed here will be long lasting, I think."
"I learned a lot about being in a leadership or facilitator position. I personally feel that I gained some confidence and am much more comfortable talking in front of people. All in all, I gained a lot of valuable skills and feel very inspired to get involved with the great ideas."
"What did the Teen Empowerment leadership training mean to me? Well, for one it was extremely fun. Usually I'm shy and self-conscious about meeting new people, but the open attitude TE comes with makes it a really nice, no-pressure situation. The atmosphere was totally friendly and I think everyone made some sort of connection with a TE person. A lot of us suburban kids don't have daily contact with kids who go to urban schools and in some way it was exciting to do so and in some ways it was refreshingly mundane, because really meeting someone from different situations is just like meeting anyone."
"Being able to have a personal connection was really important to me, as the issues have so often been very theoretical."
"Teen Empowerment is an amazing organization. ... TE, for me, is a blessing. I am so grateful. Before TE I lived in a safe bubble, a world of 'ignorance is bliss.' They popped it, and I will never be the same. They pushed the ball; they started the fire of this now burning desire I have to bring equity to the educational system. I am privileged, but now I know how to use privilege to help others. Everyone deserves a phenomenal learning experience; TE is making this possible and now I am too."
Youth Organizing
"Teen Empowerment helps young people develop into community leaders by providing job opportunities and community organizing skills, which gives them the platform to be heard and influence their peers positively. Teen Empowerment also has a history of helping to curb youth violence, which is a serious concern in our community."
Keenan L. Allen, Director, Pathways to Peace, City of Rochester, NY, 3/25/03
"I attended Teen Empowerment's 'All Eyes On Teens' Youth Speak Out and Conference on March 6th and was extremely impressed by the turnout of over 400 participants. More importantly, I was amazed at the work of the Teen Empowerment youth organizers who delivered powerful speeches about the issues they face in the city. I was moved by their personal experiences and their sophisticated understanding of causes and solutions to violence, relationships between youth and police, the educational system and the hopelessness so many young people feel. ... This model of engaging youth, particularly high-risk youth, in leading their peers to create change is a unique and effective approach to solving the problems we face."
Robert J. Burns, Probation Administrator, Monroe County, NY, 3/30/04
"Over the past year and a half, officers from Area D-4, the Youth Violence Strike Force, and the Boston Police Department/School Police Unit have met with Teen Empowerment youth organizers and adult staff from the South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhood to build relationships, eliminate stereotypes, and increase understanding. During these sessions, we had intense discussions of the roles that police play in the community and the problems that community youth face. Through our discussions, both youth and police gained a deeper understanding of one another and prepared to work together to improve the community. We jointly planned a successful series of five community meetings between area youth and police and a Unity Day for the entire community. Although our discussions were sometimes difficult and it was challenging to make all of the arrangements necessary to bring the youth and police together, the new relationships we made and the understandings we all gained far outweighed the difficulties."
Detective Ernesto R. Whittington, Bureau of Special Operations/School Police Unit, Boston Police Department, 2/26/03
"As Mayor, I am acutely aware of the problems that some neighborhood youth are experiencing with drugs and violence. At the same time, I know that there are many Somerville young people who are just waiting for the opportunity to use their skills and talents to help improve their community. ...Teen Empowerment recently completed an assessment of youth services for the city that identified the nature of the problems we confront, our present capacity to deal with the problems, and the steps we need to take to improve our efforts. TE did an excellent job on the assessment, and we are now ready to enter the next stage of working with TE to develop a citywide Youth Leadership Network. The City of Somerville hopes to partner with Teen Empowerment to coordinate city resources to establish the Teen Empowerment Model as a central component of our adolescent service delivery system."
Joseph A. Curtatone, Mayor, City of Somerville, MA, 5/28/
" ... Over and over again I have witnessed Teen Empowerment doing great work building community between our students and our staff and helping EHS teachers learn how to engage students who have traditionally been very difficult to reach. ... And when our school has problems I know that I can turn to TE for help. For instance, when we experienced a rash of fire alarms, TE worked with our staff and representatives of the fire department to put on a presentation that showed the impact the alarms were having on students, teachers, and the children who attend the school's day care center. After the presentation, the false alarms virtually disappeared. I could go on and on about how important Teen Empowerment is to the future of English High School. ..."
Jose Duarte, Headmaster, The English High School, 1/5/04
"Early in the year, Teen Empowerment helped to build community within the Freshman Academy by leading class sessions. During these sessions freshmen openly discussed topics such as respect and what it means to be a teen. These interactions proved invaluable to me in creating a community of learners who were respectful and honest with each other. Because they participated in Teen Empowerment sessions, my students better knew each other, felt more comfortable with each other and, therefore, were more likely to participate in class in meaningful and respectful ways."
Rachel Cummings, English teacher, Dorchester High School, 9/2/04
"As the headmaster of the newly formed Economics and Business Academy (EBA) in the Dorchester Education Complex, I see first hand the extremely important functions that Teen Empowerment fulfills. Here at EBA, we are in the midst of a complex transition from the large school model of the former Dorchester High School to three independent small schools. Fortunately for us, Teen Empowerment is continuing to provide critical services to our school as we go through this dynamic process of change. In my last position as Assistant Headmaster at DHS, I observed TE's work closely over a five-year period. I saw students who were transformed by their involvement with TE. I participated in TE initiatives that helped keep our school community on track. And I helped recruit faculty to participate in Teen Empowerment teacher training, which gave our staff a chance to learn interactive teaching methods that vastly improved their classroom teaching. I know from my past experience how important Teen Empowerment will be as we face the myriad challenges associated with the changes we are making."
John Leonard, Headmaster, Noonan Business Academy, 1/29/04
"The issue for my program (the former Bilingual Program) took a drastic change in which students of various cultural backgrounds were placed together in a classroom for the first time. Teen Empowerment was asked to assist teachers in finding ways to alleviate the tension that was created due to students not understanding other cultures that were present in the classroom. This situation created class disruption and animosity, along with setting back the teaching/learning process. The Teen Empowerment staff implemented an innovative and interactive workshop for the teachers. They demonstrated several methods, such as 'Bag Toss' which demonstrated the importance of cooperative learning and team concepts. This 'working together' concept is extremely helpful for students struggling to get along with one another while promoting cooperation."
Vicky Rodrigues, Program Director, Bilingual Education, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, 1/20/04
"The Teen Empowerment program coordinators work with the students on a daily basis, engaging them in constructive activities that foster the development of responsible leadership. The students take an active role in improving the school environment. They are proud of their work and they instill this feeling of pride and achievement in their peers. The program has been tremendously helpful in identifying and addressing issues that affect the overall school climate. ..."
Charles E. McAfee, Headmaster/Director, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, 2/12/03
Consulting
"Thank You Thank You Thank you. I recently attended the NSACA [National School-Age Care Alliance] conference and went to your workshop about staff meetings. I tried a couple of things that you taught me at your training and they worked so well. What a difference."
Jenn Soule, 3/4/04
"I participated in your afternoon workshop [at the NSACA Conference] and was glad I did. You did an outstanding job in your presentation, and I just wanted to thank you. I have used some of the exercises we did, but I plan to put to use some of the ones I learned. Thanks again!"
Deb Foley, 3/10/04
"Please accept our sincere thanks for your workshop presentation ... at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on October 21. ... One student wrote 'This organization embodies everything I think youth development needs to be, I would love to be able to do work like this in my career.' ... Overwhelmingly, the students indicated that the modeling of experiential activities/exercises and effective debrief strategies was extremely useful and highly transferable to their own practice."
Gil Noam, Ed.D., Ph.D., Director, Program in Afterschool Education and Research, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 10/23/04
Consulting with Schools
"... I have come to rely upon Teen Empowerment for assistance with issues such as substitutes being disrespected by students or new teachers feeling isolated and in need of support. In all of these, they have come up with lesson plans, group meeting ideas, mentoring possibilities and problem solving techniques."
Helen Jacobson, Chief Academic Officer, The English High School, 7/1/04