New England Students Challenged to "Take The Plunge--Make A Difference!" - Rural Roots, Volume 2, Number 3 (June 2001)

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This article appeared in

Volume 2, No. 3
June 2001

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Arts Flourish on California's San Juan Ridge

Ford Grant Funds Equity Collaborative

Rural Datebook

What Lies Ahead for Rural Trust Network Sites in the Southwest

Art Blooms in the Desert

New England Students Challenged to "Take The Plunge -- Make A Difference!"

Rural Trust Students Selected as Annenberg Scholars

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New England Students Challenged to
"Take The Plunge -- Make A Difference!"

by Helen Beattie, School Psychologist and Educational Consultant, Vermont Rural Partnership

More than 200 young people gathered at Vermont's Lyndon State College on April 3, 2001 to learn about the innovative ways in which students are taking on leadership roles in their schools and communities. Three years ago, Cara Cookson, a student involved in the Vermont Rural Partnership (VRP), attended the national Student Extravaganza in South Dakota and was inspired. She returned home and led the organization of the first East-coast version of this conference, held last spring. Because it was so well received, a group of VRP students decided to carry on the tradition by hosting the second annual Vermont Student Extravaganza.

General sessions included sixth through 12th grade students, while workshops (renamed "fun-shops") were tailored specifically to either middle school or high school ages. Fun-shop alternatives were diverse, yet with a common theme of actively engaging participants in learning. For example, one group of middle school students spent the day exploring their own leadership through a climbing wall experience, while another group created three-dimensional masks representing their leadership qualities. Yet another highly praised middle school session showcased a group of students who write and publish the only town newspaper. This session inspired several other schools to engage in similar work and has created a support network for such an undertaking.

High school students also had many choices for exploring leadership opportunities. These included learning about the Harmony School in Indiana where students are central to decision making; a dynamic community service course at a local high school; and an individualized study program that allows students to link learning to their passion.

As a closing activity, participants created a paper chain, figuratively and literally linking their reflections on what they had learned during the day and what they planned on doing back in their own schools and communities. The following quotes affirmed the power of the experience to both inspire and to serve as a catalyst for action:

What I Learned:

Even though we're all different, there's one thing that can bring us together. We're all leaders.
Every voice can make a difference.
[We can] break the barriers between adults and youth.
You can do anything if you set your mind to it!
I learned that working together helps get things done.

Margaret Mead once wrote, "The further development of human society depends upon the existence of a continuing dialogue in which the young, free to act on their initiative, can lead their elders in the direction of the unknown" The children, the young, must ask the questions that we would never think to ask." The Vermont Student Extravaganza 2001 was a call to action -- "Take the Plunge--Make a Difference!"