What is Youth Voice? Recently, I was asked to speak to the Alamo STEM Ecosystem group of educators about the concept of Youth Voice in the aftermath of the giant announcement by UP Partnership about a game-changing investment in San Antonio youth centered around voice, healing and access. CAST Schools was named as the anchor partner for showcasing Youth Voice in order to deepen the practice in the San Antonio region.
Fortunately for me, I followed a panel of our CAST Med and CAST Tech students who were reflecting on the lessons of their internships and offering feedback about how to improve the design of high school internships. Beginning and centering around the voices of students is one simple practice that any organization can adopt to ensure that they always take into account the perspective of the learner.
Often people translate Youth Voice as creating spaces where youth can speak up and share, such as student advisories or adding students to decision-making boards. This is not wrong, and these are exemplary practices.
However, the big question for our San Antonio community is: how do we build systems centered around Youth Voice?
How do we co-create learning experiences with students?
Answering this big question requires a mindset shift where we recognize that the most important player in the educational journey is the learner. This in no way diminishes the role of the teacher, or the supportive adults that surround young people. We must stop underestimating young people, and as adults, we must stop assuming that only we know what they need to know. We must move to a new approach where we design experiences, spaces, and relationships that guide and mentor students as they learn, and are open to them taking greater responsibility and control of their learning.
If this seems abstract, here are three practices from a menu that we offer at CAST. Adopting similar practices will move organizations closer to a student-centered system that follows Youth Voice, but I want to repeat that the most important shift is one where we, the adults, believe in students, their gifts and talents, and their unlimited potential.
- With the support of the Greater Texas Foundation, we have created a toolkit for student-centered advising, which is a series of activities students participate in from grades 9-12, so that by the time they reach their senior year, college and career advising are highly focused.
- Student-led conferences: This practice of having students present their learning to their parents and other caring adults at least 2x a year is showcased at our Pre-K-12 Advanced Learning Academy. As a parent myself, I can share that no other practice has given me more insight into my children as learners.
- Legacy projects: Piloted by CAST Tech High School, and now practiced at most of our schools, this project invites seniors to pitch a new idea to strengthen their school as something they leave behind for future students. A testament to the power of these projects is how many have actually been implemented.
Since our inception, CAST Schools has coordinated a citywide civics fair called Speak Up Speak Out, in collaboration with the UT Annette Strauss Institute and hosted for the past three years by Texas A&M-San Antonio. Students work in teams and present to a group of adult judges ideas about how to strengthen our city. If you would like to get a taste of what it looks like when young people are passionate about making their community better, consider joining us by signing up as a celebrity judge.
And many thanks to the organizations in this city who are supporting our Youth Voice work this year. It is not too late to join this impressive crowd of sponsors!
- San Antonio River Authority
- HOLT CAT
- Firstmark Credit Union
- H-E-B
- Port San Antonio
- Broadway Bank
- H. E. Butt Foundation
- City of San Antonio (DHS)
- Edwards Aquifer Authority
Jeanne Russell
Executive Director
CAST Schools
