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Fall, 2007 Update
2007
Youth Academies a Success
Youth participate in a workshop at Teen Employment Scene, an all-day event that attracted 250 high school students, organized by youth mentors from the 2007 Academy in Los Angeles.
In 2007, enthusiastic teens from throughout California attended a Young Worker Leadership Academy (YWLA) on workplace health and safety. Each YWLA is a fun, activity-packed, all-expense-paid, 3-day leadership training for teens. Academies provide both education and a forum to plan service learning projects. Teams of young people at each Academy work to create outreach activities for their schools and communities to promote positive, safe youth employment.
The Academies have been held since 2005 in various California locations. Teens who apply form a team with 2-3 other youth, and find an adult sponsor who attends the Academy with them and helps later with their outreach project. For more information on upcoming Academies, go to the Young Workers website, www.youngworkers.org .
The Academies are sponsored by the California Partnership for Young Worker Health and Safety. They are funded by the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation as part of the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP). Additional funding is received from the California Wellness Foundation.
2007
Academies
2007 Berkeley participants
Two Academies were held in 2007, planned and conducted by LOHP, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (UCLA-LOSH) in Los Angeles, and the California Center for Civic Participation.
Over 100 youth applied for the 2007 Academies, from 30 teams. The Berkeley Academy in January, 2007 had 21 attendees, including teams from Deer Valley High School in Antioch, Girl Scouts of Konocti in Cotati, Madera Coalition for Community Justice in Madera, Inspired Young Villagers in Los Angeles, Rowell Family Empowerment Center in Hayfork, and Capitol City High School in Sacramento. Five youth mentors from the 2006 Academy helped conduct activities.
2007 UCLA participants
The Los Angeles Academy in February, 2007 had 19 attendees, including teams from La Puente Valley Regional Occupational Program (ROP) in City of Industry, Concerned Citizens of South Central LA in Los Angeles, Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, Ramona Unified School District in Ramona, and LACOE Jonas Salk Community Day School in Hawthorne. Six youth mentors help out by facilitating icebreakers and advising the participants.
At the Academies, students who previously had not known much about laws protecting teen workers learned about teen job injuries, job hazards, and their own rights in the workplace. Participants also considered how workplace problems can be addressed at the policy level, through education and through changing the law. An activity called "Issue Slam" opened their eyes to how differently their peers may think about controversial issues such as raising the minimum wage or allowing undocumented immigrants to get drivers' licenses.
Youth participants rated the Academies highly. They particularly liked meeting peers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. They enjoyed doing role plays, interviewing actual employers and employees during worksite visits, and planning and making presentations on their future outreach projects. Participants said they learned a lot about the laws that protect them in the workplace, how to speak up and respond to problems on the job, and how to spread this information to their peers.
New to the 2007 Academies were eleven youth mentors, alumni from previous Academies who returned this time to help by facilitating icebreakers, conducting training, and advising the participants about the community education projects each team had to do after the Academy. They also organized projects of their own, including developing a MySpace site (groups.myspace.com/YWLAalumni) and a YWLA Newsletter.
Outreach
Projects
Finally, participants practiced putting all their new information to use by planning later activities to educate their peers and others about teen worker safety issues. Projects planned included public service announcements for the media, a billboard, and video documentaries.
In their follow-up projects, the 2007 participants tackled a broad range of approaches. Several groups developed their own PowerPoint presentations, workshops, and other activities to share information at school or community events. One group planned Teen Employment Scene, a day-long event offering workshops led by themselves and other high school students for 250 others in high school. For more on these projects, go to www.youngworkers.org .
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