Educator Innovator LRNG Challenge Grant

Drawing on Youth Participatory Action Research and Connected Learning frameworks, this project focuses on the design and implementation of the first year of a four-year, youth-led research sequence at a public high school in Cleveland, Ohio. This project invites 9th graders to identify, research, and act on a community issue related to the larger theme, “The City is Our Campus.” All youth participants will collaborate with a specific community partner to “read” a space and engage in place-based efforts to shift how youth use the places they share with other community members. All students will produce an outcome appropriate to their selected topic and issue. The six community partners will facilitate learning experiences that allow for sustained interactions, ongoing mentorship, and regular opportunities for relationship-building with students. To bolster the depth of collaboration, the project is designed to evolve with students for their entire high-school experience.