Posted: August 31, 2022
A group of 4-H members from the Philadelphia area — Siquil Ward, Judah Steward, Khari Taylor-Thomas and Jay’Len Clark-Carr — recently participated in the True Leaders in Equity Institute, a national conference held near Washington, D.C.
Back row: Siquil Ward, Kieran Meyer, Morgan Doyle; Front row: Morgan Schrankel, Jay'Len Clark-Carr, Judah Steward, Khari Taylor-Thomas
The institute is aimed at preparing youth ages 15-19 to become change agents within the cooperative extension system to create more welcoming and inclusive environments. This training and leadership opportunity challenges participants to work together to identify and champion equity-related projects.
"It gives teens an opportunity to face issues of equity within their own communities," said Morgan Doyle, 4-H extension educator based in Philadelphia County.
Doyle introduced the opportunity to a group of students she works with at Belmont Charter High School in West Philadelphia. The four young men decided to apply. They spent four days in Washington, D.C., attending workshops on implicit bias and other concepts related to equity and inclusion. 4-H adult volunteers Morgan Schrankel and Kieran Meyer also attended the conference to support the youth.
"It was a great chance for the teens to not just see D.C., but also see what 4-H looks like for other kids around the country and develop relationships with youth who had experiences that were totally different from theirs," Doyle said.
"It was really nice to meet all those people," said Steward.
The team chose to focus on destigmatizing mental health within their school community. The 4-H'ers are entering their sophomore year. Doyle noted that the school is in an underserved neighborhood where gun violence is a reality.
"We talk about the ways that trauma and structural racism and all these things interact to create larger mental health struggles," she said. "Plus, mental health issues are on the rise among our young people for lots of reasons, such as climate anxiety."
Doyle will support the 4-H'ers in a multipiece effort to shift the conversation around mental health.
"Where we are, most people aren't really comfortable with speaking up about mental health," Steward said. "Doing this will give me a chance to speak out, raise awareness and get everybody to join and get more involved."
The team will start by lobbying their school to hire more social workers. The school currently has just one social worker.
"Right now, she's booked out for months," Doyle said. "They want to have four social workers, so students can actually have appointments with them."
Becoming mental health ambassadors is another element. The students want to learn mental health first aid to recognize signs of struggle and know how to support peers. Ward said he struggles with mental health and knows others who do as well.
"We've been learning about all the different types of mental health problems and how to start helping people and helping ourselves," he said.
Another goal is to create a mental health sharing circle. Aimed at cultivating a culture of sharing, this weekly event would take place during lunch and after school and provide an opportunity for peers to share about difficult topics, bond and build resilience together. The team hopes eventually to make this part of the school day as an elective.
They also plan to create posters about mental health resources to display in classrooms.
While Doyle helps facilitate the project, she pointed out that all these ideas came from the students. "This is a project they feel invested in," she said. "They've created it themselves."
Steward remarked on the team's cohesiveness: "Everything is collective," he said. "Everybody is working towards a single point. I think that's the most important thing."
The team is available to talk about the project with anyone who is interested in learning more or implementing a similar project where they live.
Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a nonformal educational youth-development program of the United States Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring and contributing citizens. To find your local program, visit the Pennsylvania 4-H website Pennsylvania 4-H website.
