youth development
Mainspring Consulting, in partnership with child and youth development experts, has created a practice framework intended to support work environments that employ older youth who have experienced foster care. This toolkit offers guidance on outreach and hiring, supervisory expectations, onboarding, and benefits. It ends with a call to action to create supportive work environments.
Sponsored by North Carolina State University, the Virtual Martin Luther King, Jr. Project (vMLK) developed as a pilot project. The vMLK team in conjunction with faculty at Southease Raleigh Magnet High School developed a website with resources intended to offer learning experiences and no-cost professional development opportunities for North Carolina teachers and students grades 8-12.
In celebration and honor of Native Heritage Month, the National Educational Association (NEA) offers year-round resources to share the narrative of Indigenous People groups.
Resources include lesson plan units for children grades Kindergarten through 12 that focus on history, accurate representation, Thanksgiving lesson plans from the Native American perspective, background resources, printables/posters, videos, and recommended readings. The curated collection is in partnership with organizations centered in social justice and advocacy.
NEA Note: “Educators should be mindful of cultural appropriation when teaching about other cultures and understand that Native American students in class may experience lessons differently than non-Native students.”
A Native woman-led racial and social justice organization, IllumiNative has created free resources (in partnership with the National Indian Education Association and Amplifier) that increase the visibility of and challenge the negative narratives of Indigenous peoples.
Resources available include youth and adult publications centered in advocacy, awareness, and research. Lesson plans include remote learning opportunities that explore the work of Indigenous leaders and changemakers in digital tool formats for grades PreKindergarten through 8th grades.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) engages audiences in a community education program, Learning for Justice. This resource provides educators with free resources to encourage youth civic participation as well as to learn honest history, promote servant leadership, and move toward a racially and socially just society.
This collection of resources has been curated by SPLC to offer lessons for elementary and middle school classrooms that focus on elections and voting.