March 2010
Mikva Youth Policymakers Campaign for Victory!
March has been quite a month for us - Mikva youth leaders have been meeting with community leaders and public officials to push for their solutions on some of Chicago's toughest issues. These young policymakers are even scoring some wins! Check out their work below:
| The Request: Establish Student Voice Committees in Schools? Ron Huberman: "APPROVED!" | |
 After months researching their issue, lobbying their principals, and creating a detailed advocacy report in support of Student Voice Committees, the students shined in their meeting with Chicago Public Schools CEO, Ron Huberman.On March 10th, Mikva Challenge's Education Council met with Mr. Huberman to propose launching Student Voice Committees at selected pilot schools. Their proposal was approved! Ron Huberman signed off on $30,000 to launch Student Voice Committees at five pilot schools. The launch of Student Voice Committees came from a recommendation within the group's summer report, "Reinventing High Schools in Chicago." This is a big win for the Council, and we are happy to share it with you! Read more here. | |
| The Request: Launch a New ACT prep program at Julian? Principal: "APPROVED!" | |
| Mikva Challenge's Peace & Leadership Council at Julian High School is slowly changing the culture of the school. They have been working on addressing students' weak performance on the ACT, and narrowed their focus on improving ACT prep at the Julian. They researched the test prep field, spoke with vendors, visited other schools to see how their test prep programs are run, and surveyed their peers on this issue. The Council then presented their findings and a list of recommendations on how to enhance the prep program at Julian. The principal agreed, and approved $22,000 to improve ACT preparation at the school. The students have now hired an ACT prep vendor to help launch this effort. We are excited to see this kind of youth-adult partnership! | |
| The Request: Youth Involvement in Safe Passage Projects? MacArthur Foundation: "APPROVED!" | |
| For the past couple of months, Mikva Challenge's Safety Council has been pushing for more youth involvement in the deliberation of policies around safe passage for students. To that end, they have been lobbying at all levels of the political system, meeting with other civic organizations, and sending letters and proposals to Foundation presidents to secure private funding of their initiatives. In fact, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation approved a $20,000 grant to the Youth Safety Council to support current and new safe passage projects that directly include young people. This $20,000 will be added to the $25,000 pot that is already in the Youth Voice Action Fund. The fund, which is managed by the Safety, Teen Health and Education Councils, will be giving out $500-$2,500 grants to support youth-led projects in Chicago around safe passage, teen health, and student voice. The group hosted a bidders' conference on Saturday, March 20th at Loyola University for interested applicants. They are still accepting applications - click here to view the grant application. | |
| The Request: Passage of the Youth Jobs Act of 2010? Students: "DON'T LEAVE US OUT OF THE RECOVERY" | |
 Mikva's Out-of-School Time Council held a Youth Jobs Rally on March 1st to demand the passage of the Youth Jobs Act of 2010. Over 200 Chicago high school students came out for the event, as well as several politicians and media representatives. They also participated in letter-writing campaigns, called their public officials, and connected with other youth organizations in the city to advocate for the passage of this bill. The fight is still happening on Capitol Hill and will pick up more steam now that the health care bill has passed. The youth will continue to advocate with their public officials to gain funding for youth employment. We are proud of the Council's work, especially since the Council was just launched in December. | |
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