2010-2011 Youth Leadership Council

After weeks of campaigning and a night of speeches, six students were elected to the 2010-2011 Youth Leadership Council in late October. Wednesday night representatives are Savon Clark, Charles Hill, and De'Jour Stewart, and Thursday night representatives are Cierria Tharpe, Mylana Williams (above), and Melissa Young (below).

The council held its first meeting on Thursday, November 18th. After brief introductions (they all know each other already), we talked about identity, goals, and expectations - What is the Youth Leadership Council and why does it exist? A good layout of the council plan can be found here on Chris Warren's blog (my predecessor who revitalized the Youth Leadership Council in 2008). The new council will continue to form its own rules and roles, but Chris's plan is a good starting point.

Continuing in the meeting, we reviewed project ideas from last year's council and brainstormed project ideas for this year. Since it is a brainstorms session, anything goes! Ideas included a snack bar during tutoring sessions, a lock-in, a dance, painting the walls to bring more color into the center, a homecoming event for alumni, creating a mascot for the program, and more. As winter quarter approaches, the council will decide on at least one project to pursue, but for the remainder of fall quarter, their focus will be to assist with the holiday fund raising campaign.

On November 17th and 18th, when EL and I talked about the status of Cabrini Connections with our students and volunteers, all six members of Youth Leadership Council joined us up front to help lead the discussion. On the way out that night, they distributed holiday appeal letters to students for them to take to friends, family members, teachers... anyone who may take interest in their participation at Cabrini Connections. Lastly, on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, council members came in to write personal appeal letters to potential donors, several of which can be read here.

Congratulations to the new members for being elected and thank you for immediately helping where you are most needed. I look forward to writing further updates about the accomplishments of this group over the course of this year. Thank you for reading.