BRATTLEBORO-"The success of our communities is deeply connected to the ability of our youth to realize their educational, career, and life goals and aspirations and to access opportunities in Vermont and beyond."
This is the belief at the heart of the Youth Opportunity Initiative, a project introduced by the Vermont Proposition in 2023 aimed at gathering the feedback of people across Vermont on the current state and potential future of youth education.
The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) backed the idea and rounded up an advisory group of adult and youth leaders of Vermont - the Future of Vermont Action Team - to have statewide discussions with people of all ages.
These discussions, held over the course of 2023, culminated in the final Vermont Visions for Youth Success Report, released in June, which proposes ways to inspire and support youth in Vermont.
The key findings:
• Young people need to be in positions of leadership and to have their voices heard.
• Local initiatives for social justice and career opportunities should be in contact with schools.
• Young people need to feel safe and comfortable in school and connected to their communities in order to have any success.
The groups leading the study held 12 open discussions in person, in sites throughout the state. In each location, they would hold one meeting in a local youth space and another in a public community space.
They also spread the word about their survey on social media, through email lists, and through community partners such as recreation centers, libraries, and social service offices.
More than 300 people responded, and another 300 engaged in forums and interviews. All answered the following questions:
• What are the youth opportunity successes and challenges today?
• What are your hopes and visions for the future?
• What are your ideas for how to boost youth opportunity and aspiration in Vermont?
The report states that over the course of the study it became apparent that a holistic approach was necessary to "[nurture] the physical, emotional, and social well-being of our youth - and [build] deep connection to community and to Vermont."
In the study, most people desired a future in which youth felt connected to their communities in work and in school, and in which the youth played a crucial role in decision-making and leadership within that community.
Act 109, which established the Vermont Youth Council, was signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott in 2022.
The bill will expire in 2026, and members of the VCRD and all groups and individuals associated with the study viewed it as essential to reinstate the bill, to ensure sure the Youth Council remains.
Acting locally
There are also various more centralized youth councils around the state, such as the Brattleboro Area Youth Council (BAYC).
"We talk about how we can get more shared power in schools," says Mariam Abena Diallo, a member of the group who's almost 16 - the legal age to vote in town elections.
The Youth Council meets on Tuesdays every month "to make Brattleboro feel more safe and welcoming to kids and teens."
The group also discusses career possibilities for students and puts out surveys to area schools. For example, once the BAYC put out a survey about career opportunities to gauge what resources students needed to feel more prepared for their futures, it followed up by asking local businesses about internship and mentorship opportunities.
BAYC also has placed suggestion boxes around town.
The Youth Council works on youth-facilitated training workshops as well, to prepare young people for adulthood and to expand their problem-solving and collaboration abilities.
These workshops are similar to the leadership training held at Landmark College, which teaches younger kids to work through problems and be more autonomous.
Diallo believes the workshops are a "really great model." She says that adult supervisors often want to help the young people or instill direction but, as she puts it, "sometimes you have to get back and let the kids sort of work it out on their own."
In the past, the BAYC has opened up communication with Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, which provides support to "drive economic and cultural growth" for the downtown community, according to the organization's website.
Breaking down the findings
Though the BAYC didn't play a role in designing questions or holding forums for the Visions for Youth Success report, they did dissect and discuss it when it came out.
"A lot of times, we talk about community safety and how kids feel growing up in Brattleboro," said Diallo. She considered the report to be comprehensive and well-made.
The report discussed the council's youth-facilitated training and touched heavily on the issue of safety in towns - specifically, in schools - across Vermont. Diallo believes that talking to people about what they need to feel safe is important.
But is it possible for everyone's safety needs to be accommodated? Diallo doubts it.
She recalled a time when police officers were stationed at Brattleboro Union High School following concern over shooting and bomb threats, and she remembered how divisive the decision was.
"I think it's really difficult to make everyone happy," she said. "Different people need different things."
But she also believes that people who are "less prominent in the space" are more afraid. Diallo considers it a matter of utmost importance that all students' concerns be heard. Sometimes just sharing their worries and knowing that people are working for them, and that they care, matters the most, she says.
Outside of school as well, Diallo says that a lot of kids don't want to go out to certain spots in Brattleboro late at night, or even during the day, which prevents them from feeling free and thriving.
"I know that a lot of people sort of feel that they want to leave Brattleboro," Diallo says of her peers feeling uncomfortable and without opportunity in the area.
For the nearly 16-year-old, she said it is crucial to "[help] people feel that they can grow and thrive in their community" by giving them opportunities to explore what they're passionate about and what makes them happy while they're still young.
"I think that it's really important that if there's an opportunity that people really know about it," she stated.
Diallo says it would be ideal if BUHS could continue to heavily advertise local opportunities to kids, although she believes that the school is already doing a great thing by providing access to a career center so close by.
For Lauren Brady, VCRD's community engagement and policy associate, "the theme of Safe Schools is an important one."
She notes that the VCRD "heard a need for more holistic tools to address bullying, harassment, and racism both within and beyond schools" and that "there's broad support from people of all ages for things like anti-bullying measures."
Brady also mentioned that the group heard a number of stories from students of color about being racially profiled and harassed by police. The general consensus was that officers did not belong in schools. There were also success stories about the impact local restorative justice and substance abuse prevention centers had had on schools.
To Brady, there is one type of public program that deserves more attention: youth centers. She believes that these spaces, such as the BAYC, the Brooks Memorial Library's teen room, and the Boys & Girls Club on Flat Street "are critical because they are dedicated to providing a safe, fun, and well-resourced place to spend time and find community outside of school."
Diallo would agree. The Youth Council is "a pretty cool group," she said. "It's really fun." She likes to see kids getting involved in the community. They are also involved in the online community with their website, youthCouncil802.org, and an Instagram page: @youthcouncil802.
"It's really important that people affected by decisions made get to have a voice in those decisions," Diallo said, of youth leadership.
"Oftentimes the climate of a school reflects the current climate of its community. If a town has drug problems, so will its schools. If a town deals with homelessness, some of those people without homes will be students," she said.
"Every larger issue affecting a community will show up in its education system, so taking care of young people by understanding their and their families' struggles, and providing them with hope and security, is essential to creating positive change. Kids are not exempt from any of the crises a town can face - whether they experience it or live next to it, it will affect them - and for that reason, they are no less deserving of being heard than adults are," Diallo continued.
As Diallo says, "it's important to listen when you're in a position of power." She believes that the next step is to have those with decision-making power take a look at the report and see what can be done to make youth feel more prepared for adult life and included in nearly all aspects of the community.
To adults in charge, she says, "just listen. Take the time to listen."
Diallo personally hopes "to have, I suppose, opportunities in what I want to do." She wants to continue to grow, without being pressured to make important decisions right away. She wants to have exposure to all sorts of experiences, but would love to continue engaging with music.
"The way that different people interact with art is so vast, and it's so interesting," Diallo remarked.
Brady wants "to continue to have engagement from people across the state in transforming these findings into action." She said there are many organizations in Vermont that are actively teaching adults how to invite youth to address challenges they see, and to empower them to collaborate with the community to make changes.
For the report, the VCRD worked with UP for Learning and Vermont Afterschool, two leaders in the state that invited kids to shape the Youth Opportunity Initiative and facilitate forums.
Up for Learning teaches teachers the benefits of allowing students to conduct curriculum evaluations and data gathering within their community.
Vermont Afterschool oversees the Vermont Youth Project, which "empowers groups of students by working with them to craft grants for an idea they are passionate about and that will benefit their school or community and then provides them with the grant money to execute their project."
The report provides suggestions about where to look in your community for successful initiatives that people can support.
"That's one way that we hope this report will inspire people," said Brady.
She also hopes that those who are excited to aid in the success of young Vermonters will join the VCRD at the Vermont Community Leadership Summit on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Vermont State University in Randolph.
There, many workshops and conversations will be held throughout the day to propose ideas for next steps, according to the reports' findings.
Full scholarships to the event will be available to youth and students. Registration for everyone else will be offered on a sliding scale. The specific details are available at vtrural.org/summit.
This News item by Siri Harrison was written for The Commons.