Project Voice Youth Conference
During the conference, the students had the opportunity to hear from two of the original Freedom Writers.
After they told their stories, Freedom Writers Darrius Garrett and Tony Becerra took questions from the audience.
Current YDB student Sherrell Hunter writes: “My field trip to Frankenmuth was an exciting experience. I admired Darrius and Tony’s ambition to make something of themselves. Even through their hardships, they still kept their heads held high in hope of success. I adored this section of the afternoon because Darrius and Tony did not believe that they would make it out of the “hood” and become anything. It was similar to my story; at one point in my life, I was ready to give up. The only difference is that the two had support from their teacher Ms. Gruwell. I now have the support of the teachers here at YDB and I too will become a success.”
Sherrell gets her book signed by Darrius and Tony.
Rhonda Ellington tells of her experience at the conference: “My experience at the youth conference was very insightful. We did a lot of work with advocacy. We learned different ways to work on the different issues that we face today. The part of the conference I enjoyed most was listening to the Freedom Writers’ (Darrius and Tony) story and how their teacher motivated them and they they turned their lives around. I feel like I can do the same and have started to just by being in the YDB program.”
Not only did Rhonda hearing the speakers and learning about advocacy, she also won one of the prizes in the raffle!
The students learn about using Facebook not just for keeping in touch with their friends, but also for promoting the issues they'd like to advocate for.
At one of the advocacy stations, students "fashioned" t-shirts to create awareness about their issues.
Each station asked them to consider all of the options out there for ways to advocate and the steps to take to help promote their issues.
Even staff members Indira Pierce and Jennifer Boyd got to join in on some of the fun!
