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Youth Action Center seeks board participation in youth‑adult equity training and youth leadership campaign
Summary
Representatives from Bridges Youth Action Center asked the board to participate in a youth‑and‑adult equity training and described a youth‑led campaign to expand authentic student representation in school governance.
Representatives from Bridges’ Youth Action Center asked the Memphis‑Shelby County School Board to participate in a youth‑and‑adult equity training designed and facilitated by an intergenerational core of youth and adult facilitators.
Eritrea Tumeskin, learning and facilitation manager at Bridges Youth Action Center, and Asia Alexander, Youth Specialist, described a training that centers youth leadership, addresses adultism and supports practical collaboration tools so youth and adults can work together on shared decision‑making. The presenters said the training includes audio and video testimony from students, case studies and facilitated intergenerational dialogue designed to move beyond token representation.
Bridges asked the board to accept one free initial training session as a good‑faith partnership and offered to provide follow‑up technical assistance if the district elects to scale training to more staff and teachers. The presenters said Intercore, Bridges’ intergenerational facilitation team, has worked with local groups including the Shelby County Youth Council and community partners and has provided technical assistance to out‑of‑state organizations with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Board members asked logistical questions: presenters said participating youth come from across the city and represent MSCS and some municipal and charter schools; Bridges said some youth could not attend the meeting because of school or extracurricular commitments and offered to circulate a short youth video to the full board. One board member asked about charter school inclusion; presenters said the campaign currently focuses on MSCS students but Bridges and the Youth Action Center serve youth from charter schools as well and would pilot within MSCS first.
Presenters also discussed a parallel campaign to strengthen student congress and to expand student representation so each grade has representation rather than a single student delegate; they said the campaign would pursue policy and selection‑process changes to reduce tokenization. The initial training offered to the board would be free; presenters said further partnership and scaling could include fees to be negotiated.
No formal board action was taken. Board members thanked the presenters and several expressed interest in receiving the youth video and scheduling the training.
