Whole Child Connection’s Youth Leadership Council (YLC) and graduate students at The Warner School of Education came together to work on the teacher pipeline project. This initiative focuses on teacher retention by strengthening relationships between teachers and students and uplifting youth voice.  

One of the exciting activities that happened as part of this project was a digital journaling project where pre-service teachers and youth leaders engaged in online dialogue throughout the semester. Through this digital journaling project, pre-service teachers and youth leaders discussed how uplifting youth voice and strengthening relationships between teachers and students can support teacher job satisfaction and improve retention. Seeing how the YLC and pre-service teachers collaborated and shared their perspectives, experiences, and ideas was amazing.   

The YLC also had the opportunity to participate in a college readiness workshop led by Dr. Eleni Duret from The Warner School of Education. Through this opportunity, youth learned about local and national college data, discussed various higher education pathways, and participated in an engaging activity that challenged the youth to work as a team to problem-solve college-related scenarios.  

Whole Child Connection’s Youth Leadership Council is dedicated to making an impact on education and has been working hard to develop and facilitate professional learning opportunities for local school districts. In addition to working with local teachers, the YLC has developed several resources, including a video for worldwide SEL day and a teacher retention advocacy letter that will be shared statewide. It's amazing to see how the YLC has worked together to create change, develop new skills, and build meaningful relationships with our partners. We are so proud of the YLC and grateful for their hard work.

This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Farash Foundation.