Promising Practices

On November 3rd, I attended my first conference. I went into this meeting with no preparation at all. I will admit, waking up early on a Saturday was a drag on top of being as sick as I was. I enjoyed how all of my classmates and I took over two tables just so that we were able to sit together. Promising Practices was a meeting that I felt I left with some important facts. I feel like I gained a thing or two from the conference.


The conference started off with a keynote speech from Dr. Dana Fusco. Although I am an Elementary Education major, I felt as though her speech was very informative and engaging. She focused on Youth Development- Promoting equity through child and youth agency. In her speech she discussed both sides of equity and youth and how these two roles play in the role of youth development. In her PowerPoint presentation, she displayed the ying-yang. This incorporated in her speech because through this, she asked us to support the youth and help them become active in their own lives. After her speech, we were dismissed and we were off to our first sessions.

My first session was If You're Safe and You Know it, Clap Your Hands with Dr. Gerri August. This session I felt, I took something from it because as a future teacher, I feel these tips would be helpful to take into the classrooms. As a teacher, you should be able to provide a save space for your students where they can feel a sense of belonging where their contributions are valued. As a teacher, we should be able to allow students to enjoy a judgment free zone. We were in groups to talk about what we felt about a diagram she had in front of the room. In my group we mentioned SCWAAMP. It tied into our discussion perfectly because it showed how students are expected to be treated but through our discussion we received tips on how to allow students to feel welcome to be themselves. This session really provided me with information that I felt I could possibly use in my own classroom.

In my second session was Youth Development isn't Enough with the students from Youth In Action. I really enjoyed this session because it was more of a personal feeling with the students rather than listening to them talk about their program and asking questions after they finished. They created a museum that gave us background information about who they are, what they do and allowed us into their home. They set up about 5 tables with different stations with the students themselves behind the tables answering all the questions we had ready for them. Youth In Action is a great program for students in high school. The students during the session showed a lot of passion for the program they are involved in. I thought it was great how they are willing to expand. I think it would be great to have them become a part of Rhode Island College especially since we have started a Youth Development major. I suggested to them that it would be great if they set up a table out on the quad during our break on Wednesdays and they agreed to look more into it, which I thought was awesome. These students told us that this program keeps them out of trouble because they are involved in something that gives them a sense of belonging which is great because this is what students need. Going back to Dr. Fusco's speech, through these non-profit organizations, they can help students stay out of trouble and help them in the long run.

After the two sessions, we had lunch and had an "Unconference" by  A.L.L.I.E.D. I really enjoyed this speech because I felt like I could relate to what was said by the students. Each student had something to say based on what they felt they could relate to or something that we did not realize was important. I really felt engaged to what everyone had to say especially when they read the poem. "For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend" by Pat Parker. Each member read a line from the poem. I thought this was a great poem because it tied perfectly into their speech because you cannot judge a book by its cover, just because someone looks a certain way does not mean what you think they are. I can truly relate to this because I am always labeled a nationality that is no where close than what I really am.

For my first conference, I do feel like I gained something. I left there knowing things that I had not before. Although I am not a Youth Development major, it is great to see what can come out of it. Promising Practices was such a great experience. I am glad I was able to experience it, especially with my classmates because like I mentioned, through my first session, I feel like I can use what I learned into my own classroom one day. Through the sessions I had, it did help me see how beneficial these programs can be helpful to the youth. Hopefully these programs will expand into something more and give the youth the help they really need.