Youth-led Workshops

At EdJ, we believe that when stories are silenced, we can’t do the work. In spaces about improving education, student voices are often left out. In April 2023, we hosted our first Education for Social Conference and had incredible youth-led workshops. We are promoting some of the conference workshops from 2023 and 2024 and encourage you to bring these workshops to your school or workplace! If you are interested in paying these folks to host their workshop at your workplace, please contact them!

Empowering Networks of Changemakers

Randolph Union High School Racial Justice PBL

For this workshop we will talk about a community discussion that we organized and the process we went through with a short presentation. We will then break into group to assist in the early processes of planning a similar event.  We'll go over strategies for outreach, collaboration, and logistical planning using the methods we used. We will assist students in the early planning for identifying allies and subjects for their respective discussions.

Contact: tkelman@orangesouthwest.org

  • “Student led and super impactful! I loved the time to workshop through specific challenges faced by different schools. “

    -workshop participant

  • “Youth leading, very well organized ” -workshop participant

The Unheard Stories Project

Winooski High School Students

Last year, 14 students met weekly throughout the year to interview each other, to interview members of their extended community, to share their memories and experiences of living on the African continent, to remember their home, and to discuss the challenges and complexities of moving here. Affinity space developed where they were able to - with the support of each other and the group as a whole - discuss their experiences of living in America as it relates to their experience of time, connection with family members, friendships, and their experiences of racism, discrimination and lack of fair treatment in the community. For this workshop, 5 of the 14 students will share highlights from last year’s show followed by a talk back with the audience both about the performance itself, and the process of creating it. The performance will include a mixture of storytelling, poetry, video, and audio interviews with members of their community.

Contact: 2025baweis@wsdvt.org

  • “This performance knocked my socks off. The performers were so talented and so so generous with their poems and stories. I felt like I was given a little window into a community of care that is really freaking doing it!” -workshop participant

  • “Student voice, poetry and inspiration” -workshop participant

Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions

Colchester students

This student led workshop is a presentation and interactive session that helps participants to recognize different forms of macroaggressions, identify who and why they are harmful, and practice helpful responses. The lesson has been designed to be modified for older and younger audiences and has been taught by Colchester student leaders at grade five and nine. Participants will learn what microaggressions are, understand the cumulative impact, and identify harm through practice scenarios. Participants will then have the opportunity to work in groups to practice calling out and calling in strategies. The workshop materials are shareable for students and educators who would like to use this lesson in their schools.

Contact: jamilah.vogel@colchestersd.org

  • “Hands-on activities and small group discussions, good visuals, youth presenters”

    -workshop participant

  • “Interactive activity of matching microagressions with themes and biased ideas” -workshop participant

Navigating, Balancing and Resolving Conflict at Your Own Pace!

Mea Ree Jan (student at Essex Tech and Winooski High School), Auishma Pradhan (student at South Burlington High School), Eliza Willis (student at Winooski High School)

This student-led workshop is tailored towards those who struggle with handling conflict in their respective spaces. We’ll explore different levels of conflict and how to address them. Along with handling conflict, we’ll be reviewing various self-care methods to balance personal conflict. This workshop will include interactive activities, stories, group discussions, and lessons while maintaining a safe space.

Contact: auishmap@gmail.com

  • “The activities/moving around--multiple structured activities; warm and welcoming student facilitators; the conflict improv (this was powerful).” -workshop participant

  • “Student-led with fun activities.” -workshop participant

Peer Mediation: Empowering Youth to Lead Restorative Practices Work in Schools

Burlington High School Peer Mediators

Peer Mediation: Empowering Youth to Lead Restorative Practices Work in Schools: This is a youth-led workshop that will focus on sharing the story of bringing peer mediation to Burlington High School. BHS peer mediators will describe their voyage from youth advocacy, to overcoming barriers, to ultimately establishing a peer mediation program. Peer mediation is a process that engages the youth as facilitators of Restorative Practices in schools for low level conflicts that happen in schools among their peers. Are you interested in disrupting the power dynamic and engaging the youth in the process of disciplinary alternatives? If so, this workshop is for you!

Contact: equity@bsdvt.org

  • “Outstanding! Great leadership by young people. Thanks for providing scripts for restorative circles.”

    -workshop participant

  • “The presenters were amazing and I really appreciated the work they put into it. I was very inspired by their work. I also appreciated the resources they handed out.” -workshop participant

Let Me Be Great - Youth Power in our Schools

Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network

Vermont students have told us, through surveys, that 60% of them regularly hear racial slurs. They gave testimony about seeing slurs painted on bathroom doors and screamed in hallways, among other racially harmful rhetoric and hateful actions. The students talk about systemic racism in the curriculum, and yet some students who don't experience it directly believe it's not a problem. For example, one student told us of slave auction representations in class; others told us of inaccurate and incomprehensive curriculum. Still others answered our survey and said racism is not a problem. We’ve traveled around to schools across the state to present these survey findings, and heard from students of all backgrounds about how they view race in their schools. This workshop will be an analysis of those findings and discussions from the past fall semester. If you’re curious to learn more about how students view race, what our experiences are, and how to build a stronger community - this is the workshop for you.

Contact: addie@vsarn.org

  • “lots of conversation in the group” -workshop participant

  • “I like the student-led facilitation and the statistics” -workshop participant

Intergenerational Trauma and Supporting Healing in Schools

Mea Ree Jan (student at Essex Tech and Winooski High School), Auishma Pradhan (student at South Burlington High School), Eliza Willis (student at Winooski High School)

We'll give an overview of intergenerational trauma sharing interviews from students, parents/caregivers, and psychologists. We'll discuss the challenges that parents who came to the U.S. as refugees face with the education system. We'll also discuss the experiences of non-refugee families. We'll invite participants to investigate their experiences with intergenerational trauma and imagine ways of healing. We hope that people will leave this workshop with ideas of how to break the cycle of trauma within their schools and communities.

Contact: auishmap@gmail.com

  • “These facilitators were incredible. They did so much prep work ahead of time and were so well-prepared. It was one of the best workshops I have ever attended in my 13+ years of attending workshops and conferences. If they had adult support - the adult took a very VERY hands off role which helped this feel like an authentically student-led space.”

    -workshop participant

  • “All of the interactive parts of the workshop were so wonderful! We had so much fun and made so many connections while talking about a pretty heavy topic and I thought the students led with grace, poise, and joy!” -workshop participant

Microaggressions: Intent vs Impact

Randolph High School Students

Microaggressions happen in school every day, to all kinds of students. To figure out how big of a problem we were dealing with, our school's Racial Justice group surveyed all the students to collect data. Our data opened our eyes about how much of a problem our school faced, so one step at a time, we are doing workshops and educating ourselves more about microaggressions and what they can be, and how they hurt people. This workshop will help students with strategies for leading their own teacher workshops and collecting data.

Contact: TKelman@orangesouthwest.org

  • “I liked the conversational format of the workshop, and working in small groups really worked so everyone could get their words out and heard.”

    -workshop participant

  • “The youth leaders were open, vulnerable and professional.” -workshop participant

Youth Leaders for Racial Justice

Burlington School District students

"Youth Leaders for Racial Justice" is a student-led workshop facilitated by Burlington School District middle and high schoolers who have attended the Summer Racial Justice Academy.  Workshop participants will have a chance to hear the student stories of how they became involved as youth consultants for the school district that advocate for racial justice.  They will share glimpses of their capstone project presentations and their recommendations for change and field questions in a Q and A panel.  The workshop will culminate in restorative circle conversations where participants will get a chance to brainstorm how to leverage youth-adult partnership and youth leadership in their own spheres of influence.

Contact: equity@bsdvt.org

  • “BSD youth were leading this one and they rocked it. My favorite part was them leading the restorative circle conversation in small groups on youth adult partnership.”

    -workshop participant

  • “Youth leadership, time to ask questions and hear responses from students, time to connect in circles - the format was varied and interactive.” -workshop participant

Igniting Change: Effective Youth Organizing

U-32 Students

Youth leaders from U-32’s Seeking Social Justice will present on how to organize for social change, such as changing district policies, creating workshops for teachers and peers, fundraising, staging marches, walkouts, and other protests. They will focus on the step-by-step process, including building measurable objectives, communicating with people in power, and building support.

The audience will be invited to share issues in their community that are important to them and will work with presenters to build a measurable action plan.

Contact: mallison@u32.org

  • “It was hands-on and great to hear from students. ” -workshop participant

  • “Loved the systems change model the students presented. ”

    -workshop participant