I looked down at the striped tie flowing over my stylish blue cotton shirt. My gaze followed the tie all the way down to my wrists folded over my lap. I noticed that the white buttons of my wrist cuffs had come undone. While struggling to re-attach the two ends I found a grin beginning to crawl over my mouth. I smiled knowing that a group of high school students and their committed supervisor had just successfully given a presentation on engaging youth in community decision-making processes at UC Berkeley’s Education Summit. Tracy, Chris, Viviana and I had prepared for weeks and I know we were all glad to finally be finished. Our audience was a group of highly educated teachers, non-profit organizers and college students. We were lucky to have such an attentive and genuinely interested crowd. Several people even approached us at the end to further discuss the ideas we presented.
My main focus had been teen’s challenges and advantages compared to adults. Chris discussed taking teens seriously and ways to help us to effectively use our abilities. Viviana gave an in-depth view on the Teen Center Project so far and also talked about being a teen involved in such a large scale project. Tracy detailed the role of adults who work with or supervise teen employees, and she made clear the idea that responsibility needs to be placed in the hands of teens. I am honestly proud that I work on a team that puts such a strong value on every voice. I am sure that my experiences on the Teen Center Task Force would not have been as enjoyable had it not be for this quality, and I know that without responsibility in my hands and respect from the team’s adults my work would not have been of use and this project would have been shaped in an entirely different manner.
Click to see our presentation from the summit.
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