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Shorewood students report lessons from New York social‑justice summit, urge mentorships and mental‑health ties
Summary
Four Shorewood High students described attending a United Justice Coalition/Roc Nation social‑justice summit in New York, outlined panels on family‑impact, mental‑health and criminal‑justice reform, and urged school partnerships (mentoring, NAMI resources and curricular ties) after networking with advocates and lawyers.
Four students who attended a social‑justice summit in New York told the Shorewood School Board on Oct. 14 that panels on family trauma, mental‑health responses and rehabilitative programs changed how they see advocacy and education.
"My name is Milan Robinson, and I'm a junior here at Shorewood High School," Milan Robinson said, describing panels that spotlighted family members of people killed by police and grassroots responses such as STEM camps and trauma support. Zari Tarver and Panella Buettler joined Robinson in presenting takeaways from panels on Family Matters, mental‑health interventions and women in the criminal‑justice system.
Students described concrete calls to action they heard at the United Justice Coalition summit, including "transparent accountability" in investigations, expanding mental‑health training for first responders and alternatives to incarceration through programs like Roca, which one panelist credited with turning participants into mentors. The students emphasized that summit speakers urged changing public narratives about victims and survivors.
They also reported practical benefits: networking with lawyers and advocates that produced potential internship and partnership leads. "I got their gram[a] — I've been messaging with them because I want to be a lawyer when I grow up," one student said of contacts made at the summit.
Board members asked about selection and future participation. The staff presenter said the trip is an annual opportunity for students in the Youth Rising Up program, and that applicants complete essays, interviews and provide a staff recommendation. Students and staff suggested follow‑up ideas for the district, including classroom partnerships with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), peer mentoring between seniors and freshmen modeled on Roca, and incorporating summit material into Black History Month programming.
The presentation was paired with the board's monitoring report on R‑3 (Character and Citizenship), which included a student‑voice video. After the video, the board approved the monitoring report, finding it made reasonable progress toward the district's stated results.
The board thanked the students for their presentation and discussed next steps for integrating the summit lessons into school programming and possible community partnerships.
