Youth Action Scholars take "Reality Check" on the Road

This spring has been a busy time for the Youth Action Scholars! This April they did their workshop "Reality Check: Beyond the Classroom" for participants at Starfinder Foundation, an organization that empowers youth through soccer. The high school seniors YAS presented to said that they "got to learn things they would never learn in school," which is what YAS is all about. Here is how the Scholars explain it:

What is "Reality Check"?

As students, we spend a lot time sitting in class and consuming media. Did you ever start to question these everyday experiences? Our workshop will look at these everyday surroundings, especially our Education and Media, and question the ideas formed by what we learn in school and see on TV and in movies. We will also break down the issues caused by media’s stereotypes of black people and education inequality to see how they can be addressed through action on different levels, whether it is between friends, in the government, or even your own mind. So get ready go BEYOND THE CLASSROOM for a REALITY CHECK.

Youth Action Scholars hosted a Teen Cafe at the Honickman Center at 23rd and Diamond St.on May 6th and presented "Reality Check" to a group of 30 youth. Participants included youth from Norris Square Neighborhood Project, UCCP and surrounding area. The youth had a similar response to "Reality Check" as Starfinder participants. One student from NSNP wrote on our evaluation that this workshop is going to "make me more critical of the TV shows I watch."

But YAS's largest opportunity is still to come! This July YAS was chosen to present at the Free Minds Free People Conference from July 8th to the 10th. 3 youth action scholars, Taneka Price, Alisha Simpkins, and Jabari Jackson will take Reality Check national! The mission of the Free Minds Free People Conference is:

Free Minds, Free People is a national conference that brings together teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. We seek to develop ways of teaching and learning both in and out of school that help us to build a more just society. The conference is a space in which these groups can learn from and teach each other, sharing knowledge, experience and strategies. Read more about the conference here: http://www.freemindsfreepeople.org/about