Youth Organizing and Educational Equity
The purpose of this project is to use community organizing to educate, organize and ultimately empower immigrant youth and parents in our communities to assure the academic and personal success of Latino kids and youth and work towards educational equity in rural Minnesota.
Educational Equity is an essential part of our campaign. The organizing Latino parents become an essential piece of our plan to assure the academic and overall success of Latino children and youth in our community. This is a new part for our project. In 2008 we started organizing parents across rural Minnesota, providing workshops and creating small parent committees. We have been successful at bringing the issue of parental involvement to the table and many parents are interested in getting more involved and getting together to work for their kids' future. Our Educational Equity component will work to assure that Latino parents have the necessary tools and information to become the primary advocates for the education of Latino children of all ages in rural Minnesota.
We work to accomplish our purpose via the following objectives:
1) Empowerment through Education: We develop educational materials and conduct workshops and individual one-one on ones with immigrant youth and parents in our communities to educate them about issues related to education and their education related rights.
2) Leadership Development: We train immigrant youth and parents in rural Minnesota on community organizing and leadership skills to develop a base of leaders ready to act and mobilize on the issues that impact their lives.
3) Promoting Access to Higher Education: We organize and educate immigrant youth and parents to promote and increase the access to higher education for our immigrant youth in rural Minnesota.
4) Promoting Educational Policy Change: We organize parents and immigrant youth to help them identify policy proposals or policy changes at the local, state and national level that would benefit immigrant students and move our communities closer to educational equity.
5) Building Social Capital: We organize parents and students to create alliances with schools, school districts and teachers and we promote strategic collaborations to assure the academic success of immigrant students.
Now! Youth Network
In 2008 members of our different youth organizing committees in Owatonna, Waseca and Northfield started to meet to discuss and plan the formation of a larger youth-led structure in southern Minnesota. Our young leaders have been meeting regularly to plan this structure that would serve as the organizational body to mobilize and unite Latino youth. This structure has been named Now! Youth Network.
"Change the World" training series
Members of the Now! Youth Network,
This Saturday November 21st, 2009 we will be having a "Change the World" training series for all of our members. The trainings are an excellent opportunity for you to learn new leadership skills and to learn how to make a difference in the world! This is also excellent material to put on your resume for your college applications and scholarships! Don't miss it.
We will have guest trainers from different organizations among them:
Salvador Miranda, Community Organizer with the Organizing Apprenticeship Project in Minneapolis
Dia de los Muertos Celebration
Centro Campesino and Carleton College invites you to our “Day of the Dead” Celebration!
Don’t Miss it!
Date:
Monday November 2nd
Time:
5:30 p.m.
Place:
Carleton College
Great Hall
Northfield, MN 55057
We will have:
• Delicious Mexican Food from “La Vencedora” Mexican Store
• Music
• Art exhibits by local Latino youth and parents and featured Latino artist Carlos Rojas.
• Artistic Shows
• Aztec Dancing
• And much more!
Centro Awards $7,000.00 in scholarships
Dear Friends and Allies,
Centro Campesino is proud to announce its third scholarship fund award round. This year members of our youth organizing initiative now united under the Now! Youth Action Network will be distributing $ 7,000.00 in scholarships to deserving Latino students going to college. Nine students from Northfield, Faribault, Austin, Waseca, Medford, and Albert Lea will be receiving a scholarship from our fund.
Scholarship Fund 2009
Applications for our 2009 Scholarship fund are officially open. This year we will award up to seven scholarships ranging from $500.00 to $1,000.00 to Latino students from our communities. These scholarships are intended to help Latino students start their path to college.
Please note that our eligibility criteria has changed. The application can be downloaded here.
Summer Internships with Centro Campesino
We have created these summer internships in order to empower Latino students and help them develop their leadership skills. Students interested in obtaining an internship must send an application before June 1st 2009.
Summer Internships:
• Centro will open four summer Internships for four Latino students in 2009.
• Each student will receive a $1,900.00 stipend.
• Each student is expected to work at least 8 weeks or 160 hours.
• Student must be able to travel and work out of Centro’s office in Owatonna.
Download the application for more information.
Benefit Concert for our Scholarship Fund.
Dear Friends and allies,
Our youth organizers in Northfield, Minnesota- Latinos Working for Change- invite you to their First Annual LATINOS WORKING FOR CHANGE benefit concert on Saturday April 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Northfield High School Auditorium.
Brown Power Base Project
The Brown Power Base Project is a collaborative effort that seeks to build a broad grassroots network of African-American, Latino and other brown parents and students to address segregation and other structural forms of exclusion in K-12 education in Minnesota.
The ultimate goal of this network or "Brown Power Base" will be to examine issues of racial and economic segregation and exclusion in Minnesota schools and identify means to eradicate it, be it through community organizing, advocacy, legislative work, and legal means.
Project Partners:
African American Family Services
2008 YOUTH ORGANIZING SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Centro Campesino has organized leadership committees in Owatonna and Northfield integrated by Latino High School students. Every year they carry out different activities to raise money for their own scholarship Fund. Twice a year they receive applications from Latino students across the state and grant several scholarships. They have raise over 15,000.00 and have awarded over 12,000.00 in scholarships so far.
