“Stop doing everything for us; let us struggle some.”
“Respect us, and have high expectations of us and for us.”
“We need to know that you are behind us no matter what.”
These profound requests were addressed to teachers and parents attending a recent two-day workshop hosted by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
They came from young African American males attending district high schools who are part of a program addressing the theme:
“A Group in Crisis: Strategies for Educating and Empowering Young Men of Color.”
The program was held June 9 at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and coordinated by the district’s Parent Community Student Services Branch (PCSS).
On Aug. 4, a similar event featuring Latino young men will be held for teachers and staff from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at LMU.
“We’re bringing in Associate Professor Victor Rios from U.C. Santa Barbara to be the keynote speaker, and he will be talking about strategies around Latino young men,” explained Brenda Manuel, Ed.D., an administrator with the PCSS branch who helped coordinate the program. Rios wrote the book “Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys,” (NYU Press), which analyzes how juvenile crime policies and criminalization affect the everyday lives of urban youth.
The series serves the dual purpose of providing teachers with strategies that help aid these young men in turning around their academic performances within the district, and satisfying LAUSD’s goal of giving youth more of a voice in what happens to them in schools.
In addition to working with teachers and students, Manuel said the program will also host a series of events for parents.
After the workshop focusing on Latino boys, the next event is a conference for young men set for Sept. 13. This will be followed shortly afterwards with a conference for young women. A date has yet to be set. Then on Sept. 20, parents will be able to attend the next in a series of monthly workshops.
But what makes these efforts different, says Manuel, is rather than a one-shot meeting, staff will follow up with teacher and student participants to ensure that they are able to implement the success strategies and provide feedback.
Manuel said the workshops also include a call-to-action that allows participants to talk about what they are going to do differently.
Ideally, the meetings provide teachers an opportunity to understand and work past any stereotypes they may harbor about young men of color and gives students a chance to learn strategies to better connect with their instructors.
Finally, beginning in August, students from 20 high schools throughout the district will have the opportunity to participate in the Aspen Challenge Los Angeles. This is a competition where a team of eight students at various grade levels (from C to A) are given seven weeks to develop a solution to a social or environmental issue. The local winning team, after presenting their solutions on stage in a day-long competition, is selected to advance and showcase their work at the Aspen Ideas Festival which this year takes place June 29-July 1 in Colorado. The festival is an acclaimed gathering of global leaders, policymakers and entrepreneurs.
A solar-powered trash compactor created by pupils from Dorsey High School is among the previous solutions created by LAUSD students.
