Education

What: On Their Own: A Forum Discussion on Youth Homelessness Date: July 16, 2013 Time: 6 9 pm What: Youth Open Mic Night & Informational Interview with Jonathan B. Tucker Date: July 20, 2013 Time: 5 8 pm

Contact Name: Liz Crowe Email: forums@streetsense.org

Time: 3 hours

Time: Contact Name: 3 Jonathan B. Tucker hours Email: phenomejonathan@gmail.com Education Total Time: 6 hours

Action

What: Tutor Elementary School Students in Reading & Math Date: July 10 22, 2013 Time: 4 6:15 pm (once per week + orientation) What: Assist in Poetic Justice: FLOCs First Slam Poetry Workshop Series Date: July 27 28, 2013 Time: 2 4:30pm (27th); 5 9pm (28th)

Contact Name: Evelyn Mejia Email: emejia@centronia.org Phone #: 202-332-4200 xt. 1068

Time: 7 hours

Contact Name: Avi Criden Email: Avi.Criden@twc.edu

Time: 6.5 hours

Action Total Time: 13.5 hours Reflection Total Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 21.5 hours

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Memories of leaving the grocery store at least twice a week are vivid in my mind. We lived nearby, so everyone working at Publix had come in contact with my family at least once. If they had not, they soon would. My mother always conversed with the person who pushed our cart out of the store and to our carusually a high school or collegeaged student. So, how do you like school? She would always ask. What are you studying? What do you hope to be? Sometimes she got an occasional student who dropped-out early or who decided to take a break before starting college. Why arent you in class? Dont miss out! Go get your education! She never let them go too far without a warm smile and a bit of encouragement. She was not invasive, just wanted the best for anyone who was not acknowledging their potential to be great. I cannot necessarily say if she made the difference for them or not, but she always tried to. That motivation to promote youth to look into themselves and realize that they have an abundance to offer the world had naturally passed on to me. I have since grown tired of bearing witness to my peers being blind to their talents or falling victim to the belief that they cannot make a difference. Without support, youth can often believe that their feelings just do not matter in the grand scheme of things; without mentorship, youth can often miss out on opportunities to greater and quicker success. I have dedicated significant time and effort to being an available resource to any student with the potential to be great. All students. In order to gain a better understanding of the importance of youth mentorship, I attended the On Their Own Forum Discussion on Youth Homelessness and conducted an informational interview with DC Youth Slam Team Coach Jonathan Tucker after sitting in on a youth poetry slam and open mic event. Though these experiences seem far distanced, they complimented each other. At the forum I heard panelists from various fields chime in on the importance of working with youth directly. According to Mary Cunningham, a Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute, there are no major studies focused on youth homelessness. The outdated estimate of 22,000 youth in shelters is as much as we have to go on. This leaves much to be wondered about how many teens and young adults are couch surfing or sleeping on park benches, as a former homeless youth on the panel described. Cunningham specifically noted that youth in the LGBT community are a large majority of these displaced students. The stagnant or decreasing financial aid from Congress to support initiatives to assist homeless youth is a major problem in combating the issue, according to Darla Bardine, Policy Director at the National Network for Youth.
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A panelist from FAIR Girls, a program focused on preventing the exploitation of young women, shared a memory of a pimp disclosing with her how he picked up young women on the street: I walk up to girls in the malltell them theyre beautiful. If they say, thank you I just keep walking. If they say, Really? You think so? I know Ive already got her. Having someone to encourage heightened self-esteem in young women could have made all the difference. When one panelist described her family struggles and recounted the time period when she was homeless the room fell silent. She felt she had no one to speak to. I mean, I didnt look normal, she said. When no one noticed it reaffirmed what they told me: no one cares about me. A slightly older peer mentor would have made a tremendous difference in her life. Homelessness was not the main initiative I had in mind, but it brought the issue to light. I later went to a youth open mic and heard students speak openly on what plagued them. Unafraid to leave their problems on the stage, these students spoke on their emotions. Jonathan Tucker, the coordinator for the Busboys & Poets Youth Open Mic, took a moment after the show to describe the importance of giving students a platform to speak about what they love and what ails them. It provides a community, a team for kids who otherwise have no other. It gives them a creative outlet and opens the door for putting students in touch with resources. It acts as a creative outlet, he told me. Most importantly, I found, is that it gives them empowerment. By giving students a mic and a stage, their words have weight; their thoughts have significance. Program outreach ranged in topics: anything from youth serving time in juvenile detention to kids suffering from past domestic violence were encouraged to speak. Jonathan Tucker made a significant impact on me. He gave me the tools necessary to hold my own poetry workshop for youth. That is exactly what I ended up doing. With a group of two other TWC interns I helped facilitate a three-day youth poetry workshop. Students came to the For Love of Children building to develop writing skills and get their thoughts out on paper. Some shy, some outgoing. Some leaving middle school, some halfway through high school. We coached them through the writing process, memorization, and performance techniques. At the end of the workshop we opened up a space for them to invite friends and family members to hear their final products. Speaking on an array of topics, the poems about LeBron James mixed with appreciation

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pieces for audience members. At the end of the evening the students and parents thanked us for the experience. Through this opportunity I learned how to work with younger students and how to adapt to personalities. With some students being shy it took more effort to get them going than students who were more outgoing. My event-planning skills were boosted as well, especially considering my lack of knowledge of how fast-paced the day of the show would be. I learned a great deal about what are on the minds of these younger students, which I know will be valuable knowledge if I intend to re-create this event locally. In an effort to keep my work diverse I also volunteered once a week for 2 hours at CentroNa tutoring elementary age students in math and reading. I had never previously worked with students so young, and in finally doing so I gained skills in adapting to the age group. In encouraging the progression of their education, I got to know a few students fairly well and catered each session to their needs. I spoke with them over Jenga and Angry Birds. By inspiring healthy relationships at a young age I hope that these students remember that they can always find someone to speak to if they ever need a helping hand. By contributing to the program at CentroNa I intended to be a part of keeping the initiative going strong. With a shortage of volunteers at the end of the summer I made every effort to be there on-time if not early. Sometimes it just takes donating your time to make a difference. Overall, this project opened my eyes to prevailing issues in this nation regarding youth. I know that I have gained a better understanding for how I can be more effective in working with and around students anywhere from 1st to 10th grade, as well as what is necessary for age groups represented in this grade range. I dedicated my time to tutoring the younger students to encourage their continuous education and openness within the community. I helped to create a platform for youth to, if theyve grown a little more and feel disconnected from others, speak on whats eating away at their heart. By targeting these two age groups I have contributed to two fundamental areas of personal growth and allowed myself to be a friend to students who may not otherwise feel a sense of friendship with many others. I cannot necessarily say if I will have made the difference for them or not, but I did my best to do so.

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