From the Eyes of Many: The Louisville Youth Vision
By Christopher Locke
Wow, it’s that time of the year again! A time when young people of all ages have visions of cartoon-covered backpacks, reams of three-hole, loose leaf paper and bounties of yellow Number 2 pencils dancing in their heads… Which means it’s indeed time for school! With the return to school and visions in mind, I’m reminded of a Henry David Thoreau quote that says “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
And while most parents and adults in the community are expectedly looking at purchasing items like sports and band uniforms, instruments, or even lab supplies to support their children’s education success in the classroom and school– a lot of well-meaning and caring adults have been spending a lot of time creating a compelling child-centered, community-based vision for young people to be successful outside the classroom and school. These caring adults and young people were callers, conveners and participants in a community effort called the Youth Vision. It was exciting to participate and witness the process of developing a vision that the community can be proud of that will also mobilize us to action.
The community response to an invitation from a group of youth development and education experts convened by Metro United Way to come and share their thoughts on youth success was overwhelming. When all the conversations were complete, 36 community conversations had taken place with residents from 30 of the 32 zip codes in the Louisville Metro area, from 11 other Kentucky zip codes and from 3 Southern Indiana County zip codes. The participant demographics revealed that the conversations had attracted broad and diverse participation from community residents interested in young people.
And as Thoreau said, they looked at some things. In fact, the participants looked at a long list of depressing challenges that often impede many young people’s paths to educational success.
- 1 in 4 freshman entering 9th grade in JCPS don’t graduate on time and in four years with their peers.
- 65% of JCPS students are on free and reduced lunch.
- Worse still, last year JCPS reports that 10,500 students were classified as homeless.
In all three cases, a disproportionate number of the students are African American and Latino.
But again, like Thoreau wisely recommended, the community residents participating in the youth vision conversations did not get mired in pessimism. No, instead, this spirited group, led by Metro United Way and Metro Government, decided that the callers and the residents see what matters. So the optimists flipped the deficit-based reality that many of our students and families deal with everyday on its head and decided to engage resident voices in the process by asking three strengths or asset-based questions.
- Think about a young person in your life…What are your hopes and wishes for their success?
- What helps a young person be successful?
- If you could waive a magic wand, how would our community look different if ALL youth were succeeding?
After over 500 people had answered, the compelling Youth Vision emerged.
Louisville Youth…
- Have the skills and education to be self reliant, healthy, engaged and economically thriving.
- Have hope and show strength of character to achieve their goals, follow their dreams, respect others and contribute to bettering their community and world.
- Live in a caring community where everyone values, supports, invests in and fights for their success.
It sounds pretty compelling to me, and we hope you agree! What are some of your ideas for our community’s youth? Would you be willing to act in creative ways to bring this vision to life in the community? How?
