Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council Reports
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The document provides an overview and summary of the 2014-15 activities of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council. It discusses that the Youth Council involved 120 student leaders from 38 high schools across Mecklenburg County who contributed over 3,000 hours to community education, leadership, and service. They engaged with city, county, and school district leaders on key issues like education, economic opportunity, race relations, and student voice. Through their involvement, students gained experience with civic processes, explored careers, and provided informed youth perspectives to community leaders.
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council Reports
- 2. 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 | info@GenerationNation.org | 704‐343‐6999 www.generationnation.org/index.php/youthvoice
- 3. 2014‐15 Report A program of GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools 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.
- 4. 2014‐15 Report A program of GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools 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
- 5. 2014‐15 Report A program of GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools 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!
- 6. 2014‐15 Report A program of GenerationNation in partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Schools District 1 13% District 2 18% District 3 16% District 4 16% District 5 12% District 6 9% District 7 16% District 1 17% District 2 19% District 3 21% District 4 16% District 5 13% District 6 14% 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