 The Summer Leadership Program
(SLP) is for high school age youth
who want to spend their summer
learning about why there is so
much injustice in our communities
and who want to do something to
change it.
Summer Program Expectations
- Students and staff attend a 2 night/3 day
overnight retreat to begin the program. It’s
lots of fun and it’s required.
!
- Students attend a daily seminar and participate
in a Community Action Project (CAP)
dealing with a community issue. This isn’t
school, but we believe in reading, writing,
discussions and actions. How else can we
learn how to change things?
!
- Each week, students “intern” at a communitybased
organization for a “real world” work
experience.
- Students receive a monthly combo T pass and
a weekly stipend of $100 upon satisfactory
completion of the week’s activities.
Additional information at The City School website
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The summer program is 6 ½ weeks long with three main components.
- An academic seminar such as: community organizing,
health disparities, violence and liberation, environmental justice,
poverty and inequality which takes place three days per week for five
weeks.
- The practicum which is an internship in a
community-based organization.
- The community action project.
We meet with the internship site coordinators to make sure that the
youth are gaining something from the internship experience. We
don't want them doing mundane tasks, for example, filing. This is
the practicum piece so it is paired up to match their academic
seminar. Here are some examples.
- Youth who selected the poverty and inequality
seminar worked at the Boston Rescue Mission where the young people were
learning about homelessness through a homeless shelter.
- The environmental justice seminar was paired with
the Charles River kayaking and canoe center where they were pulling out
water chestnuts from the Charles River because that is considered a
pollutant.
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In the summer of 2010, 76 youths participated in City School and
completed the first five weeks with 66 graduating from the
program. That 86% of the youth completing all requirements of the program.
In order to graduate they have to satisfy several
requirements:
- Finish a research reflection paper
- Get approval from their internship coordinator
- Miss a maximum of three days of the program
- Give a presentation of what they learned in their
seminars
Youth who graduate from the SLP are automatically members of the GLU or
Grad Leaders United. GLU (Grad Leaders United) are the youth
leaders of the Grads' Program.
- They help coordinate a major Youth
Summit in Boston each May.
- GLU also advocates
for youth funding for jobs, coordinates youth-led events, arranges and
leads overnight retreats, and receives one-on-one mentoring with adult
staff.
We find that our summer program can have a dramatic impact on youth who
are looking to make a difference in the world. Those who finish
the program are very likely to return and spend time with City School during the
academic year. |
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