Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council report 2014-15
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This document outlines the goals and structure of a youth advisory board for local government in Charlotte, North Carolina. The board aims to educate over 100 high school students about civic issues, engage them in policymaking, and develop their leadership skills. Students from 38 diverse schools participate in activities like mock trials, budgeting, and public speaking to learn how local government works and explore issues like economic opportunity and education. The board also aims to build a pipeline of future civic leaders and increase youth civic engagement in the community.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council report 2014-15
- 2. Goals Learn about local government, civic issues Meaningfully engage in policy & decision- making Highlight civic issues important to youth Create a communitywide network of informed, engaged youth leaders Serve as a resource for community leaders.
- 3. Who we are Participants – 100+ teens; 38 high schools (CMS, charter, religious, independent, home) Diverse, representative – Race, ethnicity, religion, income, family background, LGBTQ status, political and career interests, etc. City Council County Commission
- 4. Participating high schools Ardrey Kell Phillip O’Berry Butler Cato Middle College Charlotte Catholic Charlotte Country Day Charlotte Engineering Early College Charlotte Secondary Cochrane East Mecklenburg Garinger Harding Home Schools Hopewell Hough Independence Lake Norman Charter Levine Middle College Mallard Creek Marie G Davis Myers Park North Mecklenburg Northwest School of the Arts Olympic Performance Learning Center Providence Providence Day Queens Grant Rocky River South Mecklenburg Vance West Charlotte West Mecklenburg
- 5. 100% of students – Interact, discuss issues with community leaders – Learn about, apply knowledge to solve community issues – Learning about, interacting with local government – Collaborate with youth from other schools and backgrounds – Build skills, behaviors, knowledge, and interests
- 9. Narrowing the learning opportunity gap Discuss issues with public officials Find out how and why a city grows Write news headlines See how local government works Deliberate policy in a mock council meeting Create and deliver a team presentation Read and prioritize a budget Build civic leadership and interests Analyze a speech and speaker’s skills Cast an informed mock vote on real topics Plan a city Collaborate with different kinds of people Learning opportunities connect students with real-life experiences for college, career, and civic life Pitch an economic plan for the city Learn legislative process in Raleigh See where and how people do their jobs Negotiate a deal Share solutions with civic leaders Interview a business leader Explore different parts of the city Follow and understand news Learn law through a mock trial Get leadership lessons from leaders Report on civic issues and events Be an active citizen
- 10. Thanks for meeting with youth! David Howard John Howard Charles Keller Terry Lansdell Vilma Leake Justin Lehmann Luis Lluberas Nyema Mathis LaWana Mayfield Ed McKinney Tim Morgan Pat Mumford Tom Murray Amy Hawn Nelson Brooke Adamson Maggie Akers John Arwood April Bethea Allison Billings Andrew Bowen Charles Bowman Erin Brighton Michael Bryant Ron Carlee Cheryl Carpenter Ann Clark Dan Clodfelter Brian Collier Carrie Cook Warren Cooksey Ed Driggs Ericka Ellis-Stewart Holly Eskridge Dale Fite Annetta Foard Trevor Fuller Jennifer Green Tom Hanchett Rebecca Hefner Wilson Hooper Jake House Susan Patterson Heidi Pruess Moira Quinn Leslie Rhodes Young-Sun Roth Ella Scarborough Sheila Shirley Nancy Smith Nicole Storey Tom Tate Steve Wood Hyong Yi And other friends!
- 11. High school student advisory board for city, county, and CMS Leaders through college, career, civic life Building a leadership pipeline Grades 9-10 learn about community, issues, leadership
- 12. A new generation of leaders Demonstrate higher levels of civic leadership, civic engagement, and civic literacy As a result of involvement, more likely than peers to • Serve in group leadership role (88% vs. 5%) • Vote (90% vs. 22%) • Volunteer (69% vs 28%) • Understand how government works (90% vs. 45%) • Regularly consume/understand news (100% vs. 70% ) Compared with data from CIRCLE, NC Civic Index, Pew Research
- 13. Key issues we care about Economic opportunity Educational opportunities + student assignment Race relations Student voice
- 14. Learn more Visit www.GenerationNation.org/youth to – Get more information – Ask for feedback – Join us!
- 15. Thank you for your support!
Editor's Notes
- #3: Hello, thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak tonight. We are (introduce yourselves with name and school). We are incoming co-presidents of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council. Our third co-president, Hassaanah Kersey of West Mecklenburg High School, could not be here. Standing with us is Deirdre Austin, who served as president last year. She just graduated from Independence and will head to Georgetown in the fall. Tonight we are here to briefly report on the youth council’s work this year. The youth council educates us as emerging leaders through real-world experiences. We learn how our governments and community work, the key issues, and how citizens and leaders collaborate to solve problems. Equally important, the youth council connects community leaders with a ready youth resource for informed, thoughtful feedback that can be used to strengthen policy and decision-making – especially on issues impacting children and youth. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council is a program of Charlotte nonprofit GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and CMS.
- #4: The youth council is diverse and representative. Our members attend schools and live in neighborhoods across Charlotte-Mecklenburg. We come from all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives.
- #5: Here’s a list of participating high schools this year
- #6: The youth council invested nearly 3,000 hours this year interacting with leaders, exploring community issues, and learning about government, careers, history, and the community’s growth and plans. We advise city, county, and CMS leaders on issues, policies, and decisions impacting children and youth; Organize student-led activities including Youth Summit and Youth Candidate Forum; Participate in service-learning, and civic events, attend government meetings, follow news, conduct surveys, research data The youth council narrows learning opportunity gaps through authentic and transformative civics and leadership experiences, with 100% of students: Interacting with and discussing issues with community leaders Learning about and applying knowledge to solve community issues Learning about and interacting with local government Meeting and collaborating with youth from other schools and backgrounds We build knowledge and interests about government, civic issues, public policy, news/current events, voting, and volunteering. And skills and behaviors such as leadership, decision-making, collaboration, analysis, communications, public speaking, and confidence.
- #7: This year, we… Toured the city to learn about history, city planning, and growth. Planned our own city and came up with ideas for the future. Learned about critical issues facing our community, including economic opportunity, race relations, and school assignment. Experienced the legislative process and met student leaders from cities and towns across the state at the NC Youth Legislative Assembly.
- #8: We… Interviewed candidates and wrote a student candidate guide for Election 2014 (we’re planning to do the same thing for the local election in 2015), Discussed different pathways for college, careers, and leadership. Represented Charlotte-Mecklenburg youth on committees, community panels, civic events, and conferences. Learned about community strategies and plans for growth and the future.
- #9: Members of the youth council participated in the NC Youth Legislative Assembly in Raleigh. It was a great way to experience the legislative process, learn about different viewpoints and issues, and get to know student leaders from communities across the state. And we hosted a youth summit, inviting the Board of Education, Charlotte City Council, and Mecklenburg County Commission, to meet with high school students to discuss how we can all work together to make our schools and community strong now and for the future.
- #10: Through the youth council, we benefit from learning opportunities that connect us with real-life experiences that help us to prepare for college, career, and civic life. In addition to meeting with officials, we explore careers, build leadership and professional skills, interview leaders, and much more… (leave slide up for a couple more seconds)
- #11: Thank you to the leaders who have worked with youth this year. (leave this on the screen for a few seconds…)
- #12: Through GenerationNation and community partners, the youth council is building a leadership pipeline. This year, students in 9th and 10th grade spent a semester learning about the community, civic issues, and leadership. They’ll join the youth council next year. After graduation, we’ll join the alumni network. Over their winter break, alumni came back home and met with the youth council. They talked with us about college, getting internships and jobs, getting involved in service and leadership, and other topics. The alumni continue to be involved in other ways. It is great to know that we’ll have continued opportunities to build our networks and give back to the community as we grow as leaders and young adults.
- #13: We’re a new generation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg leaders. Compared with peers, we are are much more likely to demonstrate civic leadership, civic engagement, and civic and news literacy.
- #14: As we conclude, we want to highlight key issues that we believe are important and impact Charlotte-Mecklenburg youth: economic opportunity, educational opportunities and student assignment, race relations, and student voice. We spent time discussing, reading news and doing research, and attending civic events. We will continue to work on these issues, and others, next year.
- #15: Next year will be a great one. We invite all high school students to get involved. And, we invite all officials to consider the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council to be a valuable resource for feedback and ideas. We are the next generation of community leaders – we want to make our city great and plan the future!
- #16: Thank you so much for supporting youth leadership in our community! We have enjoyed working with you and appreciate your support. Thank you!