The ten sites of the BLTN Next Generation Leadership Network (BLTN NextGen) were busy working locally and nationally this past academic year. Here are a few highlights of network activity.

Santa Fe Indian School Hosts Cross-Site Learning Event

Seven sites from the BLTN NextGen youth network gathered at Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) October 6-9 to participate in a cross-site learning event culminating in the SFIS Feast Day on Indigenous People’s Day. Participatory sessions designed and presented by SFIS youth focused on Pueblo history and culture, and SFIS programs such as its peer-to-peer writing center and an annual line-up of culturally-focused literacy nights. Visitors watched the start of a cross-country running meet, toured historic Santa Fe, visited ancestral homelands at Bandelier National Monument, and enjoyed a guided tour of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. On Feast Day, we were treated to a dazzling array of social dances from the 19 pueblos, local arts, fare, and characters.

One NextGen participant’s comments capture the spirit of many: “The hosts showed so much respect for their heritage and their guests. We were in awe of all they shared with us and how welcome we were made to feel. From visiting ancestral lands to exploring the school and meeting the students, everything was amazing. We hope to find ways to help those in our schools and community…honor their cultures and heritages and share with others.” Special thanks to SFIS site mentors, Michael Martinez and Susan Miera [MA ’97], for hosting us. “The SFIS Writing Conference represented what we hold most valuable as a school and community,” reflects Martinez: “Family, Love, Respect, and Perseverance.”

Focus on Gun Safety and Violence Prevention

After finishing the 2022-23 school year with a commitment to focusing on work to prevent gun violence, NextGen youth partnered with Students Demand Action this year. NextGen youth, advisors, and allies joined with three youth and one coordinator from Students Demand Action for an October 17 webinar focusing on mental health in the presence of gun violence. NextGen Philadelphia Youth Advisors Hager Alsekaf (panelist) and Ayona Kuriakose (co-moderator) had important roles in the webinar and discussion. 

In February, as a follow-up to the October event, Tone from The Flip Project, LLC joined Aiken NextGen students to discuss his experiences growing up in an area with gun violence and his advocacy work. He shared a clip from a documentary on gun violence his team is working an creating. Then in early May, Keith Smalls, Violence Intervention Client Advocate for Turning the Tide Violence Intervention Program at the Medical University of South Carolina, visited with the Aiken group to share his experience advocating for gun safety in the wake of his own son’s murder. Keith’s story resonated with Aiken youth, as many of them have also lost family members and friends to gun violence. Keith discussed his advocacy work and asked participants if they might be complacent in their work. He encouraged the youth to talk to people outside of their circles and stressed the importance of networking.

“Mr. Smalls reignited my passion for this work. After his meeting, I began looking up opportunities to create a youth community center in Aiken. Mr. Smalls’ story and advice was real and he understands our context well. He had examples and ways to help all ages of youth in our area.”

-Ezekiel Whetstone, Aiken High School

Networked Literacy and Youth Social Action: NextGen at NCTE

NextGen youth and mentor pairs from three sites anchored “Networked Literacy and Youth Social Action: BLTN Next Generation Leadership Network,” a panel moderated by Dr. Beverly Moss at the NCTE Annual Convention November 18, 2023. Jamari Wright and mentor Shaleisa Brewer led attendees through the imaginative process that their site uses to prepare for interviews as part of These Halls Can Talk. Alana Lansing and Mentor Susan Miera of Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) gave an overview of the relationships between writing, identity, and culture at SFIS. And Jabrasia Corley and mentor Dr. Kayla Hostetler traced the path from identity poetry in the classroom to youth and community activism in Aiken, SC. 

Slides from the November 18 NextGen presentation at NCTE.

The presenter panel for “Networked Literacy and Youth Social Action: BLTN Next Generation Leadership Network.” From left: Tom McKenna, Susan Miera, Dr. Kayla Hostetler, Shaleisa Brewer, Dr. Beverly Moss, Alana Lansing, Jabrasia Corley, Jamari Wright.

The NextGen presentation was one of seven BLTN-related presentations at NCTE this year.

Youth-Designed Summer Programming: NextGen Knowledge Sharing

As a result of learning from others across BLTN NextGen sites, and from their own local advocacy work, the NextGen youth at Aiken, South Carolina are busily planning for the launch of a two-week longitudinal summer program called “Leaders in Training” (L.I.T.). This program, notes Site Mentor Dr. Kayla Hostetler, “has grown out of several years of work at identifying the roots of our problems and traveling to other groups such as Lawrence, Santa Fe, and Louisville.”

“Our kids and my belief,” continues Hostetler, “is that if we pour [our efforts] into the youth, we will create a better world. We can really help make a difference with systemic issues by providing a supportive space that uplifts youth, provides them with arts, skills, resources, and connects them with adults who look like them doing successful careers.”

This fall, a cohort from Aiken traveled to Lawrence, MA, with support from Middlebury’s Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation, to learn more about the longstanding youth-led Andover Bread Loaf (ABL) summer programming. Lou Bernieri (MA ’80), ABL’s Founding Director, comments on the evolution of their youth development.

“Andover Bread Loaf’s Writing Leader Program focuses on developing youth as teachers and leaders. The program goes beyond a ‘youth-centered pedagogy’ to a ‘youth-driven pedagogy’ that enables youth on their own to organize and run workshops and programs for other youth and adults. For many years, it was adults who led Writing Leader training, but in the last decade the program has evolved so that it is ABL youth themselves who run the professional development of other Writing Leaders. The work of sharing their knowledge and expertise with young people from Aiken and other Next Gen sites has proven exciting and fruitful for ABL Writing Leaders, as they witness the power of youth from other parts of the country becoming agents of change in their respective schools and communities.”

-Lou Bernieri, ABL Director

Like its ABL inspiration, the Aiken program aims to help young people build arts and literacy skills and affinities through their early years, inspiring them to become program leaders as they mature.

Family Literacy Night When Teachers are the Family: NextGen at Bread Loaf’s Winter Institute

At the inaugural Bread Loaf School of English Winter Institute, February 16-18, BLTN NextGen Youth Advisory Board Members Farren Stainton (onsite) and Katherine Titus (via Zoom) facilitated an Andover Bread Loaf-style Family Literacy Night for 50 teacher participants, plus faculty. Katherine challenged writers to “Write about the parts of you that make you who you are and think about where you got those aspects of yourself.” Farren brought the group to consider “moments of special connection” and to examine “the thread that ties you to others.” Participating teachers and faculty wrote passionately and shared generously on both topics.

Writing for Peace: Naomi Shihab Nye Headlines Youth Advisory-Board’s March Writing Event

On Saturday March 9, NextGen’s Youth Advisory Board facilitated “Writing for Peace,” an interactive writing program featuring guest artist Naomi Shihab Nye. Shihab Nye spoke to the 25 youth and adult attendees about her writing process, and reminded us that “Poetry has a way to help us get a grip on what we care about.” “Writing,” she emphasized, “helps us keep asking the questions, ‘How could we make things better? What could we do better?’” She further emphasized, “Writing can take us back to the source of hope which little children live with every day.” Shihab Nye read “Moon Over Gaza,” encouraging us to try writing from the point of view of something or someone else, and “For Palestine” followed by encouragement to write from a single word, to let it be a character. “What is peace doing? She’s waiting in the sunrise. She doesn’t give up on us, you know.” 

Participants wrote and shared in response to Shihab Nye’s prompts and guidance from the Youth Advisory Board facilitators. (Use Image in March newsletter and screenshot of opening) 

“Thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with us and provide a space to obtain peace of mind through poetry. I really admire the way you read and have such a creative outlook on life. It was very inspiring.” – Charity, Aiken, SC

“Naomi, thank you so much for the time you took to meet with us and for reading your

poetry. Your writing serves as a comfort for so many people who feel underrepresented in poetry. Thank you again, it was amazing having you!” – Menna, Henrico, VA

“I really liked how intimate the event was, and I appreciated Naomi Shihab Nye’s comments and insights when it came to writing. I loved hearing everyone’s individual perspectives and prompt responses. It was really refreshing to hear other people’s writing and life experiences, especially since they came from all over the country.” -Writing for Peace Participant

Harvesting Healthy Communities with Santa Fe Indian School 

In late April, Santa Fe Indian School completed its yearlong writing event series, “Harvesting Healthy Communities: Write Makes Might.” Over the course of the year, the SFIS NextGen site worked with the SFIS Writing Center and school faculty to host four afterschool writing events.

SFIS partnered with Bread Loaf, Write to Change, and Dr. Andrea Lunsford to support the programming. Each event highlighted aspects of Northern New Mexico’s Pueblo cultures, while inviting those participating remotely to reflect on themes through expressive writing.

Here is the sequence of the workshops:

• “Planting Good Health” (November 15)
• “Harvesting Good Health by Keeping Traditions Alive” (December 11)
• “Harvesting a Healthy Community: Nourishing the Culture within Our Roots” (April 22)
• “Write Makes Might: Planting Seeds of Personal Growth” (February 16)

Advancing Nuclear Disarmament: NextGen at The Critical Issues Forum

Middlebury’s Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation is powering a growing partnership between BLTN and the James Martin Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey. Three BLTN-connected groups attended the Critical Issues Forum (CIF), “Advancing Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation Through Youth Education,” April 5-6 to present their year-long exploration of an issue related to the goal of “a world free of nuclear weapons.” The BLTN teams were among 14 presenting schools, including five from Japan. Aiken, SC students, Eric Cribb and Katrina Williams, were supported by mentor, Kayla Hostetler. Philadelphia students, Lily Arin Dorfman and Kara Wang, mentored by Monica Rowley, represented Phildelphia. And Kymani Moore and Zoe Lambdin, Louisville students, were mentored and accompanied by Nora Bartlett (MA ’11). Read the full report of the CIF Spring Conference.