From Broad Street to State Street: Local students from the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative visit the New Jersey State House
Newark, NJ—A group of students from local organizations within the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative were on-site at the State House yesterday to witness democracy in action as the Senate convened to introduce and debate a host of bills. Young people toured the building and met with State Senator Theresa Ruiz to discuss issues most important to them - specifically A398/S3080, a bill that would establish an Office of Dropout Prevention and Reengagement of Out-of-school Youth with the Department of Education.
More than 100,000 New Jersey students dropped out in 2021—an issue that affects youth regardless of county or zip code. This piece of legislation is the first step toward addressing the systemic issues that result in student disengagement. The bill also would create a Dropout Prevention Task Force to explore the reasons why students are disengaging from school as a way to develop a statewide plan to prevent dropout.
Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) serves as the backbone of the Collaborative, which is a collective approach to creating a school-to-workforce pipeline within the city. As the backbone, NOYN works to support its partner programs with data, strategy and fundraising. Member organizations that were in attendance on Monday included LEAD Charter School, YouthBuild Newark (YBN), Leaders for Life (L4L), United Community Corporation (UCC), The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center and La Casa de Don Pedro.
NOYN Founder and CEO Robert Clark said, “The goal of our work has always been to empower young people to transform themselves, their families, and their communities. Advocating for changes to systems that have historically inhibited their success is a natural byproduct of that process. We are incredibly proud of every young person who attended yesterday’s Senate session and grateful to Senator Ruiz and her colleagues for their continued support.”
In addition to the tour and meeting with Senator Ruiz, students were also publicly recognized on the Senate floor and an official accommodation was presented to NOYN for its decades of work in the city through its YouthBuild program.
“We talk a lot at LEAD about leadership and self-advocacy and we’ve done a lot of that work locally, but going to the State House was a whole other level,” LEAD student Empress Hamilton said when reflecting on the experience. “I got to see the process firsthand and see how it directly impacts both me and my peers.”
“There are few things more powerful than the voices of young people being uplifted in such a public way,” added Altarik White, Executive Director of Leaders for Life Academy. “It was inspiring to see our students advocate for policies that would positively impact not only them, but their peers and communities.”
Those interested in becoming an opportunity youth advocate can visit the following link to contact their legislators about A398/S3080: https://p2a.co/oN5ilii
