As you all know, Vermont Afterschool has a mission of strengthening programs, building partnerships, and transforming communities so that all Vermont youth are active, engaged, connected, and heard. We have been encouraging, supporting, and sometimes challenging youth-serving organizations to intentionally create space for youth voice and youth leadership in their programs. This summer, we went… Read more »
Category: Youth Voice
Another Year of Youth Council Grants!
Vermont Afterschool, Inc. is pleased to announce that we are able to offer Youth Council Grants to four programs in Chittenden, Washington, and Orange counties for the 2021-2022 school year. These grants are offered to programs to help start or expand a youth council, as well as create a participatory budgeting process for youth driven projects in the community.… Read more »
Virtual Youth Summit 2021
In an effort to provide an outlet for Vermont youth to share their pandemic experiences, Governor Phil Scott, the Vermont Department of Mental Health and Vermont Afterschool held a Virtual Youth Summit on March 25, 2021. The event asked students from across the state to share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving the Governor… Read more »
2020 Youth Council Grants Awarded to Third Space Programs Across VT
Four projects have been selected by Vermont Afterschool to receive a Youth Council Grant that will support the formation of local youth councils across Vermont. Funded by the Northfield Savings Bank Foundation, the grants will go to the City of Winooski Community Services Department, Burlington High School Expanded Learning Program, Outright Vermont, and CVSU Afterschool… Read more »
Youth Voice Community of Practice: Supporting Youth and Each Other
The Youth Voice Community of Practice gathered again this month to discuss their work and how we can all do better in supporting youth voice. After a silly icebreaker that involved guessing chain restaurants from obscured pictures of their logos, we got into the real heart of the discussion. First up was Russell Bradbury-Carlin, who… Read more »
Youth Council for Youth Issues in Vermont
By Grace W., a member of Vermont Afterschool’s youth leadership council For the past few months I have been working with other youth from across Vermont to get a bill set up and hopefully passed in 2021. What is the bill for you may ask? Well, we believe that youth should have a voice in… Read more »
COVID-19: A Perspective From Vermont’s Youth Centers
Recently Vermont Afterschool reached out to the youth centers and other drop-in based programs that serve adolescents and young adults across the state to see how they were doing, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vermont Afterschool convenes a group known as VYCA: The Vermont Youth Center Alliance. Programs meet up on monthly calls… Read more »
Assertiveness in Boys vs. Girls and Implications for Youth Voice
Recent data from afterschool programs in Vermont show that elementary school boys are more likely than elementary school girls to have high levels of assertiveness by a significant margin. We explore what this means for empowering young people in Vermont.
Helsinki Visitors Support Vermont Youth Councils
During the week of October 14th, two strands of youth leadership that span the Atlantic merged for an informational and cultural exchange. Two visitors from Finland were invited by Vermont Afterschool as part of an ongoing international partnership: Vivian Ljungqvist, the student head of the Helsinki Youth Council and Johanna Laukkanen, a youth worker supporting… Read more »
Youth Voice: An “On Air” Need
By Sam Graulty, Youth Voice Coordinator It was recently public radio fundraising time here in Vermont. I’m a big Vermont Public Radio fan and have been known to stay tuned through their repeated membership pitches. However, a few weeks ago, during one of these breaks, I slid the dial to another public radio station and… Read more »
