LetUP Mission Statement
To represent the diversity of cultural, racial, and special interest groups on a school campus by bringing together natural student leaders within those groups in order to keep peace on campus through mutual respect and the empowerment and development of positive leadership qualities.
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Community Leadership Connection (CLC) is the third stage of the leadership development component of Leaders Empowering Teens United for Peace (LetUP). It consists of a monthly collaborative meeting between the school's LetUP leadership group, the Student Government leadership group, and community agency adult leaders and parents who work with youth in varying capacities. The goal of CLC is two-fold: to challenge the student leaders to broaden their perspectives and develop their leadership abilities by working voluntarily to improve the school and community on a larger scale, and to actively involve community agency adults and parents in the school. Meeting Logistics and Components Monthly CLC meetings are conducted during school time with as minimal class disruption as possible. The time to meet should coincide with pre-established meeting times of LetUP and Student Government. One class period is sufficient to hold the meetings as long as they are planned well and started promptly. It is important to conduct an adult planning meeting of those involved prior to the CLC meeting with the students in order to collaboratively discuss goals, purposes, and meeting logistics. Initially, this meeting may be held on a separate day, though subsequent planning meetings can occur immediately before the regular CLC meeting for the convenience of community volunteers. The first two or three meetings are spent getting to know community adults and their roles and reasons for wanting to be a part of CLC. Components of subsequent meetings are determined by a collaborative brainstorming of adults and student leaders. Ideally, an event or events are planned where students are challenged to use their leadership abilities. These events may be with individual agencies or with the entire Community Leadership Collaborative. After initial rappoire is established, most meetings are spent planning, implementing, and celebrating successes of the planned event(s). Agency representatives should also be encouraged to provide ongoing volunteer opportunities for the student leaders. Starting CLC at Your School Community Leadership Connection should be started by the LetUP coordinator when s/he feels that LetUP student members have successfully transitioned through the first two LetUP stages of laying a foundation of peace between student peer groups and between students and adult authority figures. This important transitional process between the three stages is explained in Starting LetUP at Your School. As with any extensive school endeavor, it is imperative that administrative support is gained first, and that plans for meetings times, place, number of attendees, and agencies being invited are clearly understood. It is also important to follow school procedures as they pertain to acquiring teacher permission for students to miss class, providing documentation of student attendance, and expecting students to make up missed work. Inviting Student Leadership Groups Because both LetUP and Student Government should attend monthly Community Leadership Collaborative meetings, it is imperative to establish a positive working relationship between the LetUP coordinator and Student Government coordinator. Each should understand and support the respective leadership group purposes and pre-established schedules. In addition to working with Student Government, the LetUP coordinator may also want to include student leadership representatives from other school or community groups who are not already a part of Student Government or LetUP. The more inclusive, the better, though excessively large numbers of students can make CLC meetings less manageable and less personal. Be sure to ask community agency members if they know of student leaders that they would like to be involved in CLC. Inviting Community Agency Adults After making plans and attaining administrative and staff support, the next step in starting CLC at your school is to call agency representatives, explain CLC's purpose, and invite them to the first meeting. Start with agency personnel and parents that the coordinator and other school administrators are already familiar with. An ideal start would be the local police agency who should have already been working with LetUP members. Parent Booster or PTSA members are another helpful first contact. To broaden the scope of community representation, include agencies that represent the following focus groups: health based agencies (clinics, rehab centers, hospitals, mental health agencies), activity based agencies (recreational and volunteer service), authority based agencies (police, probation department, gang intervention groups), politically based agencies (chamber of commerce, local officials), and faith based agencies (include representatives from as many faiths as possible). CLC meetings may be grouped according to these focus areas to provide organization and clarity. Inviting faith based agency members may require special permission and special explanation to administrators, students, and other adults due to church/state separation laws. As long as faith based agencies are equally represented and understand that they are not to proseletyze, then including them should not be a problem. On the contrary, excluding faith based agencies would be leaving out a viable and vital community youth support group. Convincing administrators and explaining this open minded concept to students is critical. A lets-try-it-and-see approach is a welcome beginning that is precluded by established trust between the LetUP coordinator and school administrators. Maintaining CLC Commitment Once initial phone contact is made with agency volunteers, maintain regular contact through mail or internet. If time allows, reminder phone calls always produce better adult turnouts. Always be sensitive and appreciative of agency volunteer time. Though most agencies leap at the opportunity to get involved in their local school, it is important to prevent burnout by appreciating any time they can provide. Another aspect of maintain CLC commitment is understanding the makeup of the student participants. Because student populations of LetUP and Student Government usually change a minimum of twice a year, adults will need to be reminded that redundant information to them may be new information for students. Each year, and sometimes each semester, should be viewed as a fresh start with new student leaders. For students who attended prior years of CLC, be sure to involve them when welcoming new student members. |
Windy W. Warren, Ph.D. | warren@letup.org
LetUP, CLC Founder/Coordinator
Office: (310) 547-2491 x230 | Cell: (310) 612-3414
San Pedro High School
1001 15th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
Copyright ©2005-06 LetUP, CLC All Rights Reserved.