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SCHOOL JOURNAL

City-School Project is Honored

David Mills
Connection Staff
October 2007

A joint project between Emery schools and the city has been honored by a state agency.

On Oct. 3, the California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools held a ceremony at the Alameda County Office of Education to recognize Emery Secondary and three other schools for their work in getting students involved in city government.

Emery Secondary’s honor centered around the district’s Y-Plan. That program is part of a project run by the Center for Cities and Schools at U.C. Berkeley. The center sends graduate and undergraduate college students onto high school campuses to encourage teenagers to get more involved with city government.

The center currently works with six cities and five school districts. Emery schools have participated the past two years. More than 60 students have taken part.

“We really believe youth and families and other school stakeholders are really important participants in a city,” said Ariel Bierbaum, the Center’s program manager. “It’s a real opportunity to make better city policy.”

The core of the program is a 10-week course in the spring. Under this Y-Plan program, Emery Secondary students the past two years have studied health services in their community as well as what safe activities are available for young people.

The students presented their findings to city leaders, informing them that there were no affordable health services in town for students and families. That led to the creation of the wellness center at Emery Secondary.

The teenagers also told City Hall there was a lack of programs for youth. That produced the Extended Day Academy now on campus.

The students also discovered what they said was a misperception of young people in Emeryville by people in the community. That led them to deliver a presentation on “a day in the life” of an Emeryville teenager to the City Council.

Ruth Mathis, a social studies teacher who oversees Emery Secondary’s program, says the students are getting vital lessons while the city receives important feedback.

“The city has been getting very good information,” Mathis said. “In many cases, it’s the first time they’ve heard from young people.”

The program is getting noticed. Assemblywoman Loni Hancock has asked students in Emeryville and neighboring communities to study the part of San Pablo Avenue that travels through their town. As a result, teens in Richmond reported they had concerns about pedestrian safety on that thoroughfare. Emeryville students said there weren’t enough “family friendly” businesses along that road.

The Y-Plan program is also expanding beyond its origins. Emeryville teens now have two seats on both the city’s General Plan Update Steering Committee and the City-School Committee.

“This is making city government come alive for the students,” said Bierbaum.

Mathis and other teachers have also connected their students with a national organization that brings together teenagers across the country who are doing community work. Two Emery Secondary students traveled to New Orleans as part of this project and others attended a conference in New York City.

The program at Emery Secondary is also expanding beyond the 10-week course. A dozen students have already met this semester to discuss community-related issues. They plan to meet every month to continue the work they began in the spring.

“They decided they needed to do this for more than 10 weeks,” Mathis says. “This will keep our students’ drive going throughout the school year.”

She adds the ultimate goal of the program is to create future leaders who will make a difference in their community.

“It’s important because it allows students to see that they can really impact change, especially students of color who feel disenfranchised,” says Mathis. “We have some smart, talented kids who hadn’t had an opportunity to show that.”

David Mills is a writer for The Emeryville

Connection. If you have a question or comment, please contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com