High School Students Present Ideas to Help Improve the City of Syracuse

Violence. Mental health. Homelessness. Nutrition. Engagement.
 
These are just a few of the issues plaguing the City of Syracuse, according to SCSD high school students. They’re also just a few of the issues that these same students have suggestions to help improve.
 
Through their participation in the Syracuse Youth Advisory Council (SYAC), students from Corcoran, Henninger, ITC, Nottingham and PSLA at Fowler met throughout the school year in partnership with the Syracuse Common Council. They studied local government and explored issues, with the goal of helping to address current challenges within the City.
 
To conclude the year, the students chose an issue most important to them and conducted research – ultimately coming up with proposed solutions to present to elected officials, school district staff, and community members at a Civics Assembly called CIVXCON.
 
“The City of Syracuse has high rates of mental health issues, especially among people of color and people living in poverty,” Nottingham senior Greer Foley shared. “We want to raise awareness of all the resources that are already available here in Syracuse that can help.”
 
Greer and classmate Nadine Arnold would like to create posters detailing mental health resources to distribute throughout the city.

“We’re all so different,” Nadine added. “One poster wouldn’t work for everyone. We want to create posters that raise awareness of the resources available – but they would be targeted to different populations, different neighborhoods, and different languages. Some people – even teenagers like us – want help but don’t know where to go to ask for it.”
 
“Our goal is to gain and retain more minority teachers here in the SCSD,” PSLA at Fowler junior Sha'Keyrah Stackhouse shared. “Having more diverse teachers would help create a more comfortable environment for our students – especially English as a New Language students.”
 
“We’d like to see all SCSD students in grades 6 and up receive annual first aid and CPR training,” PSLA at Fowler senior G Cotroneo suggested. “And we’d like to have a posted sign in each classroom, like the fire drill evacuation signs, that show where the nearest AED is located.”
 
“I was in class one day when another student had a seizure,” ITC senior Avionce Jackson said. “Most of us don’t know what to do in case of a medical emergency. Our research showed us that CPR training kits are only $7.50 – that’s such a low cost to potentially save lives.”
 
“We’d like to help address the food deserts in Syracuse,” Nottingham senior Carizma Rowser shared. “The Food Bank of Central New York hosts mobile food pantries, but we’d like to see increased funding to expand them. In the city, we mostly have corner stores that don’t have fresh fruits and vegetables. It increases obesity risks when we don’t have access to healthy foods.”
 
Carizma and her group hosted a brief fundraiser at their school, selling stress balls for a few days and raised nearly $80, which they contributed to the Food Bank of CNY.
 
“We have nearly 2,000 homeless students in the SCSD, ITC senior Anita Feza shared. “We have to do better for them. We have so many vacant houses in Syracuse, especially on the South Side. We propose partnering with an organization like Tiny Homes for Good to build tiny homes for these students. We have several Career and Technical Education programs that could help with construction! We could all come together as one SCSD family to help each other and build them up – literally.”
 
Corcoran senior Alexandra Raspaldo-Jimenez started out with the intention of highlighting a lack of youth recreation programs – only to find through her research that there an abundance of such programs… many of which happen to be underutilized.
 
“My idea is to find a way to streamline information about the youth programs that are offered so we can help kids find programs that interest them and help them form healthy habits. Because of my ideas, Syracuse Parks & Recreation is revamping their website, and they’re planning to start using QR codes more, so kids can find them more easily on social media!”
 
This year, SYAC students also enjoyed a partnership with the Bill of Rights Institute, a nonprofit organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for students and teachers. Their national civic engagement curriculum, MyImpact Challenge, has helped SYAC students develop a robust understanding of citizenship and develop constitutionally principled proposals to benefit their communities.
 
Bill of Rights Institute staff were on hand as SYAC students shared their presentations, and they presented checks to support the projects voted most popular by the event’s attendees. Corcoran students Natahlia Hammond and Ollie Flores received $2,000 on behalf of their school for their project ‘Sustainable Neighborhood gardens’; Corcoran student Alexandra Raspaldo-Jimenez received $1,500 on behalf of her school for her project ‘How Can We Get Kids Playing Again?’; Henninger students Kameil Lewis, Tina Thai, Lauren Cameron, Rebecca Cowles, Romina Mendoza, Grace Holtsbery, and Connor (Tobie) Martin received $500 on behalf of their school for their project ‘Urban Recycling Project’; and Nottingham students Hakima Ahmed, Rolaa Saleh, Ellexis Mitchell, Ahmed Rohani, and Farhad Sofizada received $500 on behalf of their school for their project ‘Does Syracuse Care About Its Refugees?’
 
“Being part of the advisory council was a great opportunity for students to see government in action—to see that they as citizens have the opportunity to petition their representatives to address issues that are important to them,” Corcoran Social Studies teacher Kevin Dougherty shared. “CIVXCON was an exciting capstone event for council members to participate in. Student projects were great examples of how grassroots efforts by concerned citizens can command the attention of government officials. Initially, most of the students were nervous; but as the convention kicked off, they tapped into their passion for the issue, relied on their research, and spoke with confidence. Students experienced the sense of satisfaction that comes from advocating for the causes they believe in. It was an awesome group of students who, when it comes to active citizenship, I'm sure we have not heard the last from.”
 
We’re so proud of all of the #SCSDCivicReady students who participated as part of this year’s Syracuse Youth Advisory Council!