Change Starts With Youth

Howdy, Do you feel yourself falling behind with the different LGBTQ+ identities? Are you wondering why different gender identities and sexualities matter? Do you ever find yourself saying "Kids are too young to know about that LGBTQ+ stuff?" Then in that case, the San Joaquin County Pride Center has just the thing for you!  From February to early June, the San Joaquin Pride Center will be hosting workshops for parents to help them navigate their children who are in the LGBTQ+ community. This workshop can also apply to educators who's students are in the community. If you don't know, or think you will ever know (unlikely) a young person in the LGBTQ+ community, then this serves as a good learning opportunity to become a strong ally.  Since people, especially in California, are becoming more comfortable with identifying and/or exploring different identities, more and more people are being more adamant about letting people know who they are. Especially...

What’s happenin’, y’all?  Today was Opening Ceremony for Changeist , which meant that friends and families of the youth, as well as anyone who supports the organization, were invited to discover what Changeist really is.  Changeist is an organization founded by Mario Fedelin in Los Angeles almost ten years ago. The mission of the organization is to get youth involved with social issues. The foundation graphic of the organization can be found below. The youth involved, or the Changeists, end up completing over 100 hours of community service through the program. They are encouraged to make their city a better place. Last year, a friend of mine from Stockton who went to UCLA, gave Mr. Fedelin the idea to move the organization to Stockton- a diverse city with severe wealth inequality.  During the ceremony today, youth and team leaders were able to give dedications of the next seven months with Changeist. Most of the youth ended up dedicating their time with Ch...

Hello readers! I am Liz Malone and I am a third year student at University of the Pacific.  I am majoring in English and minoring in Ethnic Studies and Teaching Professions, meaning I will be graduating with my teaching credential and will soon be on my way to teaching my own class soon.  I started this blog as a resource for educators, future educators, and people who work with youth in general for different programs.  While I may not be an expert on youth development, I plan on using my experience in the classrooms I have volunteered in, as well as my experience with the non-profit Changeist, to use as content for my posts.  I will also be using articles and books, as well as interviewing local influential people who work with youth. My focuses when it comes to youth development is student-centeredness, social issues, and community engagement.  In order for our youth to make a change in the world, they need to feel like they matter, a...