YCC Social Change Conference 2023
YCC held its annual Social Change Conference this April, which included virtual student activist panels from 4 – 5:30 pm on April 15th, 16th, and 23rd. Attendees heard from incredible student leaders about the work they've been doing on Mental Health, Social Inequities, and Countering Hate and Disinformation.
Yale Law student and former Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) Matt Post, Board of Education Member Grace Rivera-Oven, and Maryland Delegate Jared Solomon moderated the three panels, respectively, and the April 15th panel on mental health was moderated by former SMOB Matt Post and also featured three student activists and the two 2023 candidate-finalists for SMOB.
YCC Social Change Conference 2022
Student activists came together to put on three panels about the work they've been doing on climate change, educational equity, and uplifting communities. There were over 125 registrants for the three webinar panels run by student leaders as well as Delegate Emily Shetty, Delegate Jared Solomon, and Montgomery County student leader Baba Cisse with a special welcome from Board of Education Member Lynne Harris.
YCC Social Change Conference 2021
YCC Conducted its annual Social Change Conference where YCC Fellows shared their experiences with taking charge in their communities to combat some of the world's most pressing. The fellows hosted a COVID-19 and poverty panel, a Climate Change panel, and an Equity in Schools and Communities panel facilitated by Einstein HS senior Avery Smedley, Student Member of the Board of Education Hana O'Looney, Youth Activism Project Executive Director Anika Manzoor, and Montgomery County Board of Education Member Lynne Harris.
2020-21 YCC Fellowship Projects
During the 2020-21 school year, YCC supported 70 Fellows. Here are a few examples of YCC fellowship projects:
· Students to End Poverty – organized a letter-writing campaign to pass the Kirwan Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, mobilized student constituents to lobby state legislators who had previously opposed the bill, and testified before the state legislature
· Bridge the gap for ESOL (BGE) - a by-youth, for-youth organization that spread awareness about the ESOL and immigrant community, and worked to close the ESOL educational equity gap and diminish cultural and racial ignorance
· Outdoor Education and Recreation program at Greentree Shelter - a student-led weekly program that engaged children experiencing homelessness in activities to increase environmental awareness through hands-on experiments, crafts, and games such as charting growth of plants and learning about the food web through relay races.
· No Place for Hate – ADL-sponsored program focused on combatting anti-Semitism by creating a short documentary detailing some misconceptions about Judaism, and Zoom sessions where Jewish and non-Jewish students discuss their cultures/lives in an informal group setting.
2019-20 YCC Fellowship Projects
During the 2019-2020 school year, YCC supported 60 students, whose projects dealt with issues including racial injustice, LGBTQ discrimination, gun violence, the opportunity gap, climate injustice, political polarization, lack of awareness for special needs students, and poverty. Here are examples of the projects we supported:
● The Minority Scholars Program - Worked to raise awareness throughout a myriad of schools about the opportunity gap and its effects on lower socioeconomic class students. Additionally, MSP ran teacher training sessions that focused on how to shed implicit bias and discriminatory practices in the classroom.
● Albert Einstein’s Black Student Union - Created a welcoming community for minority students by bringing together members of the Black and Latino community to push the school administration to drop harmful disciplinary practices that disproportionately affected students of color.
● MoCo Students for Change - Organized a countywide lobbying effort to advance key gun-sense legislation in the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate including bans on assault weapons, protective measures against 3D printed weapons, background checks on long guns, and increased funding for urban violence intervention programs. The group brought together 50 kids from across the county who lobbied over two-dozen legislative offices.
● MoCo LGBTQ - Created a countywide support network for LGBTQ students as well as a discussion forum for prevalent LGBTQ-related issues. Additionally, they mobilized their network to create and instantiate the first-ever LGBTQ class in Montgomery County Public Schools.
2018-20 YCC Fellows
The following student groups and individuals requested and received support through YCC. They developed and implemented social justice projects designed to combat hate, bigotry and discrimination, close the opportunity gap, promote inclusiveness, and build cultures of dignity.
(ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY)
BlakeToo (Shay and Sean Pyles - Blake HS)
#BlakeToo is a movement created by students that focuses on the empowerment of sexual assault victims through the emphasis on student sexual assault and by dissipating the taboo of sexual assault through means of educating people of what exactly is sexual assault. We're working to give a voice to victims of sexual assault. We want to raise awareness about what sexual assault is and ways you can prevent it. We need victims to know that they aren't alone and what's happening behind the scenes when you report. We're going to empower students of all genders to understand they can set boundaries for their bodies, that they must respect the boundaries of others, and how they can stand up and speak out against sexual violence. This is a movement for victims of sexaul assault. We're giving them their voice back. We want to empower people to not feel frightened, to know that what happened to them isn't okay, and there's people who support you. We're going to end the cliche respond that she was asking for it, because nobody asks for it. We're going to make it known that even small assaults are a big deal and deserve attention.
Capital Compost
The goal of our organization is to offer two primary services. One: to be the bridge organization between the compost company “Compost Crew” and certain MCPS schools. As the bridge organization, we lobby the schools to start composting with the Compost Crew, negotiate the plans on behalf of the school for the Compost Crew, and help introduce and fund the operation. And two: to inform students and the communities surrounding them about the importance of composting through our student leaders going around science classes and conducting presentations or giving assemblies. While at first glance it seems as if there are no true social injustice ties to our project, if we succeed in diminishing the food products in landfills (which will occur after converting schools and the communities around them to start composting), we, in turn, minimize methane emissions (caused by rotting food waste in trash), which will lower our carbon footprint.
Citizens Field Guide for Gun Violence (Dan Navratil, Lee Schwartz, and Malaika Bhayana - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
We decided to make our own. Our information booklet, called “A Citizen’s Field Guide to Gun Violence in America,” is a factual source for the most important information about gun violence, gun ownership, and gun control. We specifically created the booklet to be non-partisan because gun violence is an issue that affects all Americans, and we believe that all Americans can come together to solve it. The booklet contains definitions of gun-related buzzwords, profiles of different types of guns, a summary of the background check system, and the gun control positions of every major candidate running in a swing state in the midterms, among other things. We also created an insert specifically for Maryland voters. It contains the gun control positions of the top two candidates for every Maryland House race along with the Senate race and Governor race. Check us out at https://www.citizenfieldguide.com/
Connecting Cultures (JD Gorman, Ben Moran, Camilo Montoya - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
Connecting cultures is a non-profit led by 3 BCC students with the ultimate goal of end the ongoing issue of self-segregation in the community, by tackling the problem from its roots. For example, BCC has been described as so segregated to the point where there are 3 different schools inside one building. Black BCC, White BCC, and Hispanic BCC are the three most obvious groups in the school. Our non-profit plans to reach such goal by hosting community events such as talent shows/art showcases, music lessons, sport tournaments and a 2-week summer camp where, for example, kids from Silver Spring get to hangout with kids from Westbrook. We are a group the goes to different community spaces to lead group discussions on a range of topics. Our goal is to engage in a productive dialogue so that we may better understand each other. When we engage in dialogue we take a step closer to change and a tighter community.
Diversity Gala (Olivia Gyapong - Blake HS)
Olivia Gyapong is a sophomore at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland and is chairing her school’s first-ever gala for high-achieving minority seniors. Olivia organized the gala through Blake’s Youth Advocacy Club (YAC), which she co-founded with three of her peers. With the help of YAC club members, club sponsors Ms. Debra Delavan, YCC, Blake Minority Scholars Program members, the Blake NAACP parent council members, the Blake Symphonic Orchestra, keynote speaker Delegate Pamela Queen, and many more, Olivia has been able to make the idea of a celebratory gala come to fruition. She hopes that by hosting this gala and celebrating some of Blake’s most exemplary students, she incentivizes those in their wake to follow the honorees’ examples, thereby minimizing the achievement gap at Blake. More than anything, Olivia wants to highlight the successes of the richly diverse student body at her school and assure these star seniors that, as they have already proved, no matter what societal barriers they may encounter after graduation, they remain incredible human beings capable of effecting incredible change.
Diversity Mural (Krissy Raisner and Willow Frohart - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
We are creating a mural that is indicative of the diversity that now exists in our school and address some of the current political divide. Our goal is to have mural be a representation and reminder of BCC’s stance on inclusiveness and acceptance. We aim to reflect this diversity by talking to different BCC clubs which represent many different groups of students within our school.
Flourishing Friendships (Lily O’Hanlon - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
I organized an Autism-Awareness fair on April 28th, 2019 in honor of autism awareness month. The fair provided families who have autistic children with a fun weekend getaway, and an opportunity to meet other families in similar situations. The fair will provide food, craft tables, outdoor zumba, relay races and guest speakers who advocate for autism-awareness.
MoCAT Museum of Cultural Toxicity (Camilo Montoya, Melissa Carr, Andrew Cha, BCC Anthropology class, Tattler class - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
Coming of Age in Toxicity is the B-CC anthropology department’s continuation of the Museum of the Contemporary American Teenager (Mocat.) Similar to Mocat, Coming of Age in Toxicity an all-interactive art exhibit and museum, with various projects researched and completed by B-CC students. The part museum, part art exhibit, part escape room focuses on six cultural toxicities: polarization, stress, masculinity, binary, comparison, and inequality. Within these broad categories, students have the creative opportunity to choose a subtopic from any of these toxicities and pursue a more specific project that they can express artistically, whether it be the student-athlete culture within toxic masculinity or the dichotomy of gender within toxic binaries. Check us out as https://www.mocatpopup.org/
MoCo Pride
MoCo Pride is the county's association of LGBTQ+ students. We work to expand the representation and activism of LGBTQ+ youth in decision making spaces through advocacy trainings, cultural events, and meetings with policy makers. Our organization works with MCPS to improve LGBTQ+ student resources and acts as a liaison between the LGBTQ+ community and local and state governments.
MoCo Students on Climate
A student-led climate advocacy group fighting for bold climate action and empowering youth climate activists in Montgomery County.
Richard Montgomery Futures Project (Rose Lee, Tareq Elhamdani - Richard Montgomery HS)
We created a mentoring/tutoring program that connected Richard Montgomery to Twinbrook. We head to Twinbrook weekly to form relationships and help struggling kids build a strong academic foundation. Early on, I realized that many participants were unfamiliar with STEM’s basic concepts due to a lack of exposure. Most engineering programs are in Bethesda, where costs can be expensive. This is especially true for Twinbrook, as 65% of its students are from low-income households. Also, much of the school’s population is Hispanic and African-American, two groups that make up a disproportionately small percentage of the STEM workforce. This inaccessibility to STEM programs discourages minorities from pursuing scientific fields. Thus, I want to incorporate hands-on STEM activities into my program, strengthening students’ knowledge of science and encouraging creativity. For each activity, I plan to introduce a minority role model in various science fields for inspiration. This combination of reinforcing lessons at school and exploring real-life STEM applications will help ensure that students are receiving a meaningful education. With my project, minorities can take advantage of free engineering activities. Hispanic and African-American populations continue to be limited from many academic opportunities, so this would give them the chance to explore their passions and gain a better sense of what STEM truly entails. A lack of diversity in the engineering community leads to a number of missed opportunities– ideas that are never able to come to fruition on account of barriers determined by identity categories.
Rising Tide
There are often young, passionate people that want to do good but don’t know quite how to get involved. I’m creating a website with a calendar of dates and information for events coming up. The website will have social media pages to go along with it. I am also documenting the work of student activists through photojournalism. New photos are constantly going on the website, as I’ve found that photography is a powerful way to capture attention and move people.
Strengthening Causes (One Maryland Summit, Caitlyn Gardiner, Homeschool)
The Strengthening Causes Foundation provides accessible workshops to teens and young adults across the state of Maryland to help foster skills in civil dialogue and political awareness. This is a bipartisan effort with individuals from diverse political and regional backgrounds in leadership positions. Our largest event so far has been the One Maryland Summit: a one day event where students from all across Maryland gathered to discuss their county identities, regional similarities and differences, and their cohesive vision for Maryland’s present and future. Through this event, we were able to provide a space for youth from all over the state to network and build connections with other leaders, help build equity in our state through making youth more aware of disparities in order to inspire action, and give legislators a youth perspective on various issues. In the next few months, we plan to host smaller workshops across the state, create forums to give youth a platform to tackle issues identified as priorities at the summit, and expand the initiative to include more of the Northeast Region of the United States.
Student 2 Student (Gabriella Harlow, Lauren Jablon - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
This past school year, Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school seniors Lauren Jablon and Gabriella Harlow created a school-wide club called Give Back. Inspired by their family ties to the military, the two decided that they wanted to co-found a club that focused primarily on helping those who sacrifice so much for them on a daily basis: United States veterans. Therefore, Harlow and Jablon co-founded Give Back with the intention that the Bethesda-Chevy Chase community could actively engage in volunteer opportunities that benefitted not only injured veterans, but their families as well. At the moment, over 120,000 veterans are currently homeless (a truly staggering and disheartening amount) throughout the United States. Through Give Back’s efforts, Harlow and Jablon hope to be able to do their best to mitigate the global injustices that veterans face, as well as improve living situations for their heroes. In just this year alone, Give Back has held various meetings during lunches, created heartfelt letters and care packages, and has organized with various organizations in the DC metropolitan area to help prepare meals for veterans. Currently, Harlow and Jablon are planning to visit injured veterans in nearby hospitals to hear about their inspiration and determination throughout their time of service. Harlow and Jablon would like the world to open their eyes to the tremendous sacrifices that the armed forces make each day, to increase appreciation, and to radiate gratitude. It is their mission to battle the injustices that they face daily and to spread positivity.
TedEX Talks (Maissa Keita - Bethesda Chevy Chase HS)
During this event people will come to hear different speakers, of the different backgrounds, and different views on the world about what we can do to make tomorrow a better future. We would like to explore how students can explore different opportunities and fields in order to uncover their possibilities and options if not true calling.
Urban Beet
Urban Beet’s mission is to connect urban communities with their soil, for the healing of both. We create urban farms to provide fresh vegetables and community workdays to students and local people experiencing homelessness.
Valentia
Valentia (courage in Spanish) is a mentorship program for recently arrived middle school students. We work together with staff from Sligo Middle School. This has enabled us to provide academic tutoring, in English and Spanish, to a vast amount of middle schoolers that originate from countries from all across the world. We recognize that many recently arrived students come from countries that are dealing with serious security, economic, and educational issues and that the students may have been significantly impacted by these problems. And so aside from academic tutoring, we also dedicate Thursdays to be “valentia” day where hosts a variety of different activities ranging from debates, sports, chats, and much more. The goal of these activities is to encourage the kids to mold themselves into success-driven individuals, and to spark a realization that they hold immense courage for leaving behind an environment they were familiar with for a completely different country, all for the sake of a better life.
Spring 2018 YCC Pilot
Our Pilot Program - MoCo Students for Change
MoCo Students for Change, formerly known as MoCo Students for Gun Control, is a student group composed of students from Montgomery County Public Schools. These passionate students have organized many events around the county to advocate for gun control, after many tragic and horrifying events occurred this year.
On March 14, 2018, MoCo Students for Gun Control organized a walkout for DC metropolitan high schoolers in response to the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. Students marched to Washington D.C. and protested in front of the capitol as well as the White House. YCC provided this group with mentorship from veteran organizers and trainings on gun control policy and grassroots organizing methods. Two advocacy trainings were held - before and after the walkout - to sharpen and to reflect on students' nonviolent advocacy skills. In addition, YCC provided a $2,000 grant to MoCo Students for Change for transporting students by bus to the White House and US Capitol on March 14th.