By Liberty Belote

 

On August 15th, UP’s Youth Program Specialists (YPSs) all came together in-person and virtually to connect and direct attention to a handful of goals for the upcoming year.

The main goal of the event involved reshaping the Youth Action Council, also known as the YAC. The YAC has historically been valued as a youth-led space where young individuals involved with UP could come together and pursue projects that felt meaningful to them. Throughout its existence, the group has pursued ambitious and impactful feats, including: conducting and analyzing survey data around the student experience during COVID, organizing and attending their own YAC retreat, and compiling a video of youth experience and perspective around equity. The YAC has also hosted internal and external dialogues about youth-adult partnership and given thoughtful input to UP policies. At the retreat, the YPSs put names to the challenges the YAC was facing—mainly limited, inconsistent attendance and need for clarity around projects–and together redesigned the structure of the group to hopefully build stronger youth leadership. 

After our Youth Program Specialist Retreat, the YAC has a revamped and clear purpose, a team of experienced facilitators (the YPSs themselves), and a selection of preliminary ideas in the works for the first few projects they want to take on. They also opened the invitation to all youth, regardless of direct UP involvement, ultimately widening the capability of the YAC for connection and learning. Meetings for the Youth Action Council are set to launch in September, with a wealth of possibilities and excitement at its forefront. Here’s a sneak peak of the new and improved YAC purpose statement in workshop right now:

“To connect youth across the organization in a joyful and sustainable process to make meaningful change and develop their skills. The work of the YAC is guided by the Youth Participation Action Research process and the mission and vision of UP.”

Also at the retreat, YPSs re-envisioned their own processes of communication with each other and the Youth Interns. Out of that session emerged an ask for consistent, clear communication, an agenda open to all participants to contribute, and a sense of perpetual optimism about the YAC infrastructure as a whole.

Finally, YPSs started to take a look at data collected on their own experiences and opinions about their skills, UP as an organization, and their position within it. With the help of Program Director Pat LaClair, they identified strengths and some shared concerns to analyze and celebrated the general good welfare of their group.

Katie Ingraham, the Program Director of the Youth Intern Program which YPSs fall under, expressed enthusiasm about the day as a whole:

“The YPS Retreat allowed for a new cohort of Youth Program Specialists to gather in-person and virtually to connect about the upcoming year, vision for the Youth Action Council, analyze our YIP Survey data, and have fun together. The day was an amazing opportunity to build community and connection between members of our group!”

The day ended with hope, excitement, and a touch of well-earned exhaustion from the deep thinking, system creating, connecting, and all the fun we had along the way!