The mission of Project VOYCE is to make youth voice real in school renewal to improve learning and achievement through leadership development, action research, and community partnerships. Our Current Partner Schools are:
- Bruce Randolph School
- Manual High School
- CEC Middle College of Denver
- Denver Center for 21st Century Learning
- Noel Community Arts School
Project VOYCE was founded August 1, 2006, following the controversial closure of Denver’s Manual High School. Project’s VOYCE’s goal is to create change and add value at individual, project and systems levels.
Just how useful are the voices of students in school renewal? Take a look at this December 2010 article from the New York Times.
I was wondering if you could help me with a class project I am working on by sharing with me any more information about the history and mission of project VOYCE. Did students start project VOYCE? What were some of the first things that project VOYCE accomplished? Also, in what ways does project VOYCE empower the student? Are there meetings, events, ect? If so, a brief description of some of them would be great!
Thank you,
Daniel Litton
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for your interest. To answer your questions, Project VOYCE was founded by two adults and two students, both previous Manual students. In the first few years the focus of P.V was around action research and the participants conducted research at a few middle schools when they were asked to come in by the principals. Every summer we hire and train 15-20 youth during in what we call the Summer Leadership Institute. All youth involved are paid and hourly wage. I started in P.V in 2008 as a trainee and have moved up to be a trainer in the last two summers which is an option for all participants. We now only hire youth from a few chosen schools with the intent of those students taking their learnings back to their schools throughout the following school year.
Every student who goes through the program will have a different reason as to why they believe P.V empowers them, but empowerment is definitely something we all experience. It is hard not to be empowered by the program, by each other, and by our schools when our voices are valued.
We are now working in three different schools this year and each school has their own chapter team of prior P.V youth and also youth they recruit and train. Everything is youth-conducted and youth-led.
Of course the list of accomplishments can go on forever so please feel free to email me or any other Project VOYCE members with any questions you may have. We are always open to meeting with people in person to share what we do, so don’t hesitate to ask if that is something you are interested in. Hope I have answered most of your questions.
Shelby Gonzales-Parker
Project VOYCE training consultant
Student Representative on Colorado’s State Council for Educator Effectiveness