“Before I went to South Africa, I would want everything that I saw. When I saw what they didn’t have, I learned that I don’t really need so many things to make my life perfect.” - Briana Lanktree, age 11, Los Angeles, CA
Global Buddies brings families from Los Angeles and South Africa together to learn about each other and global citizenship. This month, ten families from Los Angeles will join families in Cape Town, South Africa and, together, they will experience the sights of the city and engage in cultural exchange and community service. While the parents build a playground, Global Buddies youth will share stories, songs, and learn about each other's geography, language, culture and lives. They will also be working with Yenza to document, through photos and videos, their time together. Click here to read real time blogs and podcasts from the South African and American youth participating in Global Buddies.
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Lights, Camera . . . Leadership! Vermont Youth Document Their Communities |
| Vermont farmer Charles Russell remembers when he told his dad he wanted to be a farmer. His father quipped, “What you gonna grow, rocks?” Russell is one several scrappy organic farmers featured in “Farmers Have a Say,” a film produced by students at Cabot Middle School. For the past several years, students in various towns across Vermont have used video to tell community stories that make neighbors sit up and applaud. |  |
Immigrant Students in the Bronx Debate Early Marriage and Pregnancy |
| “It’s heartbreaking to see my friends give up their future for early marriage,” says college freshman Aminata Seck, a young female from Senegal starting life anew in the U.S. Two years ago, Amina and Mariam Dagnoko, then Bronx high school seniors, decided to create a documentary video about the struggle they and other immigrant teens face with family traditions that push young motherhood. | |
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The Big Score: Chicago High School Students Debate College Admission Tests |
| For students at Chicago’s Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), the buzz surrounding college preparation is intense. The school sends almost 90 percent of its graduates to college. In January 2008, WKCD sat down with five OPRF students to talk about how they judge intelligence, and their experiences with standardized tests. | |
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Tips on Helping Us Learn: From Binders to Homework |
| The last in our Voices from the Middle Grades series, here middle school students provide tips to teachers for helping them grow into confident learners. These tips and many others, along with the first-person accounts of a diverse group of middle school students nationwide, debut this month in a new WKCD book, Fires in the Middle School Bathroom. | |
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Youth on the Trail: New from Y-Press |
| Read the latest news article from Y-Press on youth and the 2008 Election Campaign. In this edition, Y-Press journalists detail issues that matter most to inner-city teens. Read, too, five profiles of young political activists from around the country—the first of many profiles Y-Press will gather as part of their WKCD campaign coverage. |
