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“Youth Speaks” At the November meeting of the GNB WIB Youth Council, representatives of the Mayor’s Youth Council presented some of the issues they view as needing attention and guidance. The “Youth Speaks” segment of the regularly scheduled Youth Council meetings was developed in response to members’ requests for more youth participation and is expected to continue. Members of the Mayor’s Youth Council had met with WIB Youth Council Director Jean Fox on several occasions. The young people learned more about the WIB’s role in overseeing youth programming in the area, and they were asked to formulate some questions regarding pressing school and/or community issues for the WIB meeting. Elizabeth Lozano, Chair of the Mayor’s Youth Council, informed Youth Council members and guests that communication remains a significant issue. She noted that a centralized resource area containing information relevant to youth activities and events would be very helpful. The WIB’s LiteracyWorks Entrepreneur will be developing a social networking site to help address this issue. The site will facilitate information sharing, and it will be interactive, permitting feedback from youth. Some WIB Youth Council members suggested that a link on the City website would be another possible approach. Other topics of discussion concerned the New Bedford High School Curriculum. As a result of the concerns voiced by the young people, Kathy Castro, of New Bedford Public Schools, arranged for representatives of the Mayor’s Youth Council to meet with the high school’s recently named Curriculum Director. In addition, several members of the Youth Council advised the students to request a meeting with the school committee. Both Lee Blake and Nancy Feeney agreed that the school committee would welcome such youthful insight. The Mayor’s Youth Council members were especially interested in learning more about New Directions Southcoast, Inc. and Career Center roles and functions. They were pleased to learn from New Directions’ Youth Programs Director, Wendy Andrade, that many services provided through New Directions and at the Career Center are available to any youth. Prior confusion over eligibility issues evidently kept some youth away from Youth Expos and other youth-oriented events. Mayor’s Youth Council Chair, Lozano, thought that many more students would benefit from learning more about available services and suggested that New Directions pay regular visits to the school – perhaps during lunch periods – to answer students’ questions. “There would be a long line, I promise you,” said Chair Lozano to Ms. Andrade. 227 Union Street, Suite 206, New Bedford, MA 02740-5946 PH 508.979.1504 • FAX 508.979.5680 E-mail: Webmaster@gnbwib.org |