Elevating Youth Voice: A Tale of Two Teens
Youth-Adult Partnership Blog Series ‘23
This blog features the writing and content of two EYV youth participants, Vienna Du and Angeline Benoit. Both are recent high school graduates and incoming first-year college students. We appreciate their contribution to this first installment in our latest blog series!The Layout
One of our priorities at Student Success Network (SSN) is to sustain authentic youth-adult partnerships in youth development nonprofits. Over the past several years, we have upheld this priority through our Elevating Youth Voice (EYV) initiative. This past year (2022-23), EYV took place in two primary phases:
Phase 1 allowed for participants to build a foundational understanding of Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP), establish roles and responsibilities, and gain exposure of Y-AP in action through case studies and knowledge sharing.
Phase 2 challenged participants to brainstorm and draft proposals of how Y-AP can be applied within the context of their own organizations.
Our intimate EYV space with our small but mighty cohort of youth and adult partners 🤩
After working closely with this cohort of young people and their adult partners at two of our member organizations, Youth Communication and STEM from Dance, our EYV team received the opportunity to nominate two seniors pursuing higher education for the Meringoff Family Foundation’s eighth-annual Meringoff Valedictory Prize (MVP). The application required them to reflect on their experiences with Student Success Network and EYV, and they were highly encouraged to do so in a creative way. Through this, we were able to learn even more about the impact of this work on youth from their perspective.
As you read on, you will gain insight from EYV participants, Vienna Du (Youth Communication, left) and Angeline Benoit (STEM from Dance, right). Their experiences underscore the importance and value of adults authentically engaging with young people, as they describe their working relationships with adult partners.
Vienna Du
Staten Island, NY | Youth Communication | Susan E. Wagner High School ‘23Recipient of the Finalist Scholarship, Vienna wrote a personal essay describing her experience with EYV. Read on to get a first-hand perspective of what it was like for her as a youth participant.
Through Youth Communication, I was connected with other student writers across the city and the country, who like myself, were open to sharing their stories with others. Through my writing experience with this magazine-based nonprofit, I worked closely with Tim Fredrick [Managing Director of Education Programs at Youth Communication], who connected me to the EYV program at Student Success Network.
Through the last seven months of participating in EYV, I have been able to meet other students from across New York City and expand my perspective of the world around me by learning about these students' experiences at different high schools and organizations.
Being connected with youth at other organizations has allowed me to better understand their stories, needs and how youth and their opinions are taken into consideration in different contexts.
The culture of this program is different from any I have been a part of before because I truly feel that I can reach out to my adult partner, Tim, and the other program’s adult partners and speak with them confidently because of the value they put on my voice as a young person. In EYV, we actively push against the stigma of a student within an organization being “less than” adult leaders because we are on the same page and our voices matter just as much when making decisions and sharing ideas.
The adult partners involved encouraged us to share what we really think about our organizations, our needs and what we would like to see changed. Through us gathering in this space, I’ve learned about how nonprofit organizations run and work, which I hadn’t previously known much about, despite being involved with many of them.
Through EYV, I have gained skills that I would like to also use in my career and college endeavors as I am now more adaptable to using online meeting platforms, confident in leading group conversations and sharing to an audience and savvy in problem-solving during group work.
As a result of this group work, my team proposed a “Youth Social Media Manager” position at Youth Communication, where young people at the organization can contribute to curating, designing and organizing content for the Instagram page. This opportunity gave me a deeper understanding of how nonprofits work, connected me with diverse youth and adults and improved my public-speaking and teamwork skills. Most importantly, EYV showed me how the perspectives and experiences of young people are core to the programs they participate in.
Angeline Benoit
Brooklyn, NY | STEM From Dance | Uncommon Preparatory Charter High School ‘23 Selected as 1 of 8 MVP Recipients , Angeline created a video describing her experience with EYV. Read on to get a first-hand perspective of what it was like for her as a youth participant.
I've only recently joined the Student Success Network and initially anticipated it would be dull because we were coming together via Zoom to cultivate relationships, which can typically be challenging. However, the past few months spent working at Student Success Network have been incredible. I have developed as a person when it comes to public speaking and connected with individuals from various organizations, which is something I wouldn’t have been doing without this space. The dinner was one of my favorite experiences in the program since we had the opportunity to enhance our connection and relationships with one another.
Our EYV Winter Dinner was an opportunity for youth participants to casually connect with one another in person as a supplement to the primarily virtual programming.
I had a terrific opportunity to get outside of my comfort zone thanks to the Student Success Network. The EYV program has helped me to genuinely step out of my comfort zone and communicate, which I typically don’t do easily.
Because I have adult partners cheering me on and encouraging me to elevate my voice and experiences, it has helped me acquire a lot of confidence in my speaking.
I wholeheartedly appreciate this program since it shifts the emphasis from academics to more social-emotional skills that help youngsters develop character and confidence.
Angeline’s MVP Submission - Embracing Communication through EYV and Dance!
Angeline submitted a powerful performance of her dancing to Rise Up by Andra Day, leveraging her dance skills cultivated in STEM from Dance while expressing her Student Success Network EYV program experience. Her song selection was inspired by the theme of elevating perspectives despite the barriers that may exist.
In addition to her performance, Angeline shared the following:
“My SSN [experience] started as a STEM from Dance alumni. In STEM from Dance, we incorporate coding and dancing together. My experience at STEM from Dance gave me the experience I needed to grow into the woman I am today and overcome the challenges this world presents. I’ve improved my confidence and my speech during the past few months at the Student Success Network and had more self-assurance when sharing my ideas and opinions in public. My dance demonstrates how we all should continue to rise up through challenges that we face, and I think a big part of why I’m feeling this way is because of this program (EYV). Thanks to this fantastic chance I was able to step out of my comfort zone and [...] be okay with how I communicate ...”
What’s Next?
Vienna Du will be attending SUNY Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and hopes to pursue Business Administration/Management. Although not selected as an MVP recipient, she was still awarded a runner-up prize for her submission to the contest.
Angeline Benoit was selected as 1 of 8 Meringoff Valedictory Prize (MVP) winners amongst the entire pool of applicants. This fall, Angeline will be attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. She is interested in pursuing Accounting and potentially enrolling in a dual degree program that will allow her to graduate with a masters degree, as well.
Stay tuned to learn more about how SSN will continue to elevate the voices of the young people in our Network and how their perspectives and experiences are being utilized to inform our approach and work.
