PSU Immersion Trip, 2008

This summer PSU went on our first ever “Immersion Trip”.  We traveled to Baltimore, West Virginia,and New York City,to meet with various organizing groups of both youth and adults, and to learn the realities of different places in the country. We began by visiting the Baltimore Algebra Project, a youth-led organization with similarities to PSU, and we learned about their protracted struggle with the city of Baltimore to get funding for a peer-to-peer program that would pay for young people to teach other young people skills for the knowledge economy.  In Baltimore we also visited with the United Workers Association, an organization of low-wage workers that has used cutting edge strategy and tactics to win major victories for folks who work cleaning the stadiums in Baltimore.  From Baltimore we traveled to West Virginia and there we met with the Direct Action Welfare Group (DAWG) and Teen DAWG. We spoke with the moms and teens about school consolidation in West Virginia, which forces students to have to travel for hours to and from school.  We also discussed the privatization of water in West Virginia and how all of these issues are interconnected.  Then we visited Larry Gibson, an activist around the issue of mountaintop removal.  We visited the mountain where he lives which is under attack and learned about the devastation to human and animal life that is caused by mountaintop removal.  Finally, we visited the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary, where a new generation of religious leaders is being trained and is thinking about how to address the root causes of poverty.  Here we had our closing discussion, bringing it all full circle.  The immersion trip was a life-changing experience for everyone who attended.  It helps keep our perspective to see what life is like outside of Philadelphia,and to learn and share our stories with other people who have some of the same life experiences yet in different contexts.

Building a Youth Movement, 2008

Every year PSU conducts an intensive summer program for our core members called Building A Youth Movement (BAYM).  This year’s BAYM took place over two weeks in the month of August and 35 core and new members participated. The first week consisted of an intensive media literacy and skills training.  In cooperation with the Media Mobilizing Project and other allies, PSU conducted week-long workshops along three tracks: audio, video, and journalism.  On the first day, all three groups engaged in media analysis of PSU’s mainstream media coverage throughout the year.  The audio group learned all the skills they need to run PSU’s show On Blast on 88.1 FM throughout the year.  The video group learned skills that they will employ making a new video about our organization during this school year.  The journalism track learned about photography, started a blog, and made magazines. At the end of the week all three groups showcased the pieces they worked on.  The second week of BAYM consisted of intensive training in leadership development, organizing, and political education.  This week was planned and led by PSU core members and consisted of workshops on organizing skills,young people’s oppression, the role of schools in society, leadership styles,public speaking and speech writing, and messaging.  This week was very intense for everyone involved.  Everyone’s horizons were broadened and we built and strengthened relationships and skills which will be invaluable as we work to improve our schools this year!