charlotte-mecklenburg youth council reports

2014-15 Report

2014‐15 Report

A program of GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools

OVERVIEW

Need With 25% of our county’s population under the age of 18, young people are critical stakeholders. Further, as our next generation of leaders, today’s students need to build civic literacy and leadership. What, and how, they learn now matters.

Solution The Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Youth Council:

Educates emerging leaders through real‐world experiences (the best way to learn) about how our governments and community work, the key issues, and how citizens and leaders collaborate to solve problems.

Connects community leaders with a ready youth resource for informed, thoughtful feedback that can be used to strengthen policy and decision‐making.

Program Youth council members are active through the year.

Monthly student meetings and activities

Advise leaders on issues, policies, and decisions impacting K‐12 students

Student‐led activities including Youth Summit and Youth Candidate Forum

Service‐learning, attend government meetings, participation in civic events

Follow news, conduct surveys, research data

Exploration of college, career, and civic life

Participants Diverse network of high school student leaders; open invitation to participate

120 youth participated in 2014‐15 activities

3,000 contact hours of community education, leadership and service

30+ high schools; live in neighborhoods across Charlotte‐Mecklenburg

Partners The Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Youth Council is a program of Charlotte nonprofit GenerationNation (formerly known as Kids Voting), in partnership with City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools. The youth council is an expansion of a successful pilot project developed by GenerationNation and students in prior years. The city, county, and CMS adopted the program as the community’s youth advisory council in 2013‐14.

Learn more Amy Farrell | [email protected] | 704‐343‐6999 www.generationnation.org/index.php/youthvoice

2014‐15 Report


2014‐15 ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS The youth council invested 3,000 hours interacting with leaders, exploring community issues, and learning about government, careers, history, and the community’s growth and plans. Conducting regular dialogues with city, county, and CMS leaders on topics including

education, planning, budgeting, policy, economic issues, neighborhoods, and other issues.

Meeting twice a month and getting involved in additional service and leadership activities through the year.

Hosting special activities including Candidate Forum for Youth, Youth Summit, and Alumni Q&A: College, Career, and Civic Life.

Representing Charlotte‐Mecklenburg students at conferences and civic events related to education, policy, leadership, and government.

Piloting Youth Leadership Charlotte‐Mecklenburg, a semester‐long program focused on community issues and leadership for incoming youth council members in grades 9‐10.

Interviewing candidates and writing student candidate guide to educate peers and the public about candidates in election 2014. In FY2016, the guide will feature city, town, and CMS candidates.

Learning about Charlotte‐Mecklenburg history, policy, and growth through community bus tour and other hands‐on experiences.

• Community engagement on local issues through service‐learning, leadership, research and education, and student voice.

• Attending city council, county commission, and school board meetings.

• Learning about and weighing in on plans for Mecklenburg Livable Communities Plan, Charlotte Community Investment Plan, and other initiatives.

• Using student voice to report on and share youth perspectives on civic issues.

• And other initiatives.

2014‐15 Report


KEY ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOUTH Through dialogue, research, and meetings with officials, students identified the following critical issues impacting children and youth. The youth council will continue to learn about and work with community leaders to address these issues in FY16.

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT

We want all students to have access to a great education and not face learning opportunity gaps. We believe that every student deserves equal opportunities at school and outside of school. We know that most of are schools are good, but we want all to be excellent. We want all students to have good opportunities to learn and succeed. We are concerned to learn that our schools are getting increasingly segregated by race and socioeconomics. We know there are many factors to consider, and are not sure what the answer is…and want to help community leaders feedback, solutions, and ideas.

RACE RELATIONS

Why don’t people work together? We read the news, and see what it happening in our neighborhoods, schools, community, and nation. We know there is a solution.

STUDENT VOICE

What is the future of Charlotte‐Mecklenburg and North Carolina? We are. We want the community and state to grow and be successful in the future so that we, as today’s students, can be here work, live, play, and lead as adults. We are invested in making the community great now, and for the future. The Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Youth Council is available to provide officials with feedback and ideas.

OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

We learned about, discussed, and gave feedback on several other issues, such as:

Neighborhoods and community engagement

CMS topics such as the calendar, budget, superintendent, literacy, student representation on the school board, and cultural proficiency initiatives

Community growth, planning and land‐use, including green‐space, parks, libraries, roads, housing, and infrastructure

Prioritizing, funding, and budgeting for government services, needs, and wants; public budgeting, capital and operating budgets

2014‐15 Report


WHO WE ARE Youth represent the widely diverse Charlotte‐Mecklenburg community. Youth attend public, charter, religious, and independent high schools and home schools and live in neighborhoods across the community. There is diversity in gender, race/ethnicity, socio‐economics, and factors such as religion, LGBTQ status, physical handicaps, political ideologies, career interests, and having non‐English speaking parents. Participants 2014‐15

# students participating in a youth council activity # high schools (CMS and non‐CMS) # contact hours % Female % Male % Black % White or Middle Eastern % Hispanic % Asian % Charlotte residents % Mecklenburg town residents % of students engaged in youth council work outside of meetings % of students involved in youth council leadership

120 38 3,000 63% 37% 53% 34% 10% 3% 86% 14% 60% 25%

Youth are recruited through school leadership, guidance counselors, teachers, student government and newspaper advisors, local governments, youth organizations, social media, news media, and other ways.

The youth council is designed to be inclusive, offering opportunities for students to attend a meeting on a topic of interest or to engage more deeply through meetings, service, and leadership.

An additional 100+ students applied to participate and receive regular information and meeting announcements, and participate in surveys, follow youth council activities, etc. and have not participated in a physical meeting.

Factors impacting participation include transportation challenges, particularly in areas of on the county perimeter, as well as competing activities. For example, the Lake Norman area has its own youth council. Myers Park students are exposed to a large number of extracurricular activities. Participation is actively monitored, and recruiting ensures a representative council. Importantly, youth are limited by busy schedules and by external factors such as family issues, jobs, sports, transportation, weather, homework, etc. Even if members can’t attend every meeting, all are still committed to making Charlotte‐Mecklenburg a better place!

2014‐15 Report


District 113%

District 218%

District 316%

District 416%

District 512%

District 69%

District 716%

District 117%

District 219%

District 321%

District 416%

District 513%

District 614%

Distribution by City Council district Distribution by County Commission district

Participating students attend 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

2014‐15 Report


WHAT WE’RE LEARNING In addition to meeting with officials, youth explore careers, build leadership and professional skills, interview leaders, and take part in other hands‐on activities. 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 Learn needs of other schools and

neighborhoods Plan a city

Collaborate with different kinds of people 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

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

Over the year, youth council members experience an average of 38% growth in knowledge and interests about local government, civic issues, budgets, public policy, news/current events, voting, and volunteering, as well as skills and behaviors such as leadership, decision‐making, collaboration, analysis, communications, public speaking, and confidence. As a result of their involvement, GenerationNation students are more likely than peers (age 18‐29) to demonstrate civic leadership, civic engagement, and civic and news literacy.

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

2014‐15 Report


BUILDING A LEADERSHIP PIPELINE Through GenerationNation and community partners, the youth council is building a leadership pipeline. This year, incoming youth council members in 9th and 10th grades spent a semester learning about the community, civic issues, and leadership through the Youth Leadership Charlotte‐Mecklenburg pilot program. After graduation, youth council members join the alumni network. Over their winter break, alumni came back home and met with the youth council. They talked about college, getting internships and jobs, getting involved in service and leadership, and other topics. The alumni continue to be involved in other ways, building networks and giving back as they grow as leaders and young adults who will impact our community for years to come.

2014‐15 Report


THANKS FOR MEETING WITH YOUTH Thank you to the leaders who have worked with youth this year. Several additional leaders and volunteers helped with additional learning opportunities and activities. 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 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 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!

Get involved Students All high school students are invited to join the youth council. Visit www.generationnation.org/index.php/youthvoice to learn more and apply for next year. Community leaders, volunteers, parents, and teachers Connect your school or organization, volunteer to educate and engage a new generation, and invest financial or inkind resources. Visit www.GenerationNation.org to learn more, or contact Amy Farrell ([email protected], 704‐343‐6999).

Connect on social media

Follow GenerationNation on social media and look for the #cltmeckyouth hashtag.

charlotte-mecklenburg youth council reports

Education

leadershi education

hours interactingwithleaders

successful pilot project

youthsum qa