New Mexico Civic Engagement

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New Mexico Civic Engagement

• Community Learning Public Service
  College of Education

University of New Mexico
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NMCE Staff

• Michael Milam, Senior Community Fellow Chair,
  NMCE Advisory Board
• Albert Arocha, Senior Student Fellow
• Stephanie Montoya, Administrative Assistant
• Louis Jeantete, Student Intern
• Fred Griego III, Senior Community Fellow
• Michael M. Morris, Ed.D., Director, CLPS

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NMCE History

• Founded in February 2002 as 1 of 10 sites in
  the national Project 540.
• Convene annual institutes for training and skills
  building to prepare youth and adult sponsors to
  address community issues and develop a strong
  collective youth voice.
• Prepare Youth Legislative Agenda based on needs
  of youths respective communities.

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lt 2005 NMCE Youth Radio Town Hall Youth
Panel of Storytellers
gt 2005 Champions For Youth Luncheon Youth Share
Thoughts and Ideas Over a Meal
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NMCE History (Continued)

• Over four years
• 280 youth leaders and 46 adult sponsors
  representing 42 communities have trained and
  participated in various NMCE activities
• NMCE promotes Youth Voice through
• - Media Training
• - Digital Storytelling Training
• - Youth Radio Town Halls

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Learning the basic techniques of Digital
Storytelling to enhance New Mexicos Youth Voice
2005 NMCE Summer Institute
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NMCE Vision

• NM Civic Engagement believes that civic
  engagement in New Mexico must be grounded in the
  people, places, culture and dynamics of our
  diverse state.
• All citizens, youth and elder alike, are
  informed and passionate about building common
  good through active and engaged youth/adult
  partnership communities in our state.

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NMCE Goals

• The desired outcome is a comprehensive
  commitment by public and private sector groups to
  the increased Quality of Life for our youth and
  collaborative programs that address their Future,
  not just their Present.

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Ecological Model Of Positive Youth Development
Society
School
Community
Family
Youth
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Positive Youth Development

• Holistic approach
• - Seamless model
• - Work collectively
• Support Youth to acquire knowledge skills
• Develop Strong Youth/Adult Partnerships

• Create environment for youth to develop sense
  of
• - ownership
• - self-worth
• - competence
• - usefulness
• - belonging

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Why are Youth-Adult Partnerships Important?

• Research has shown that youth benefit from
  partnerships with adults when they are seen as
  individuals who are competent and able to
  contribute to important decisions that impact
  their communities (Camino, 2000).
• Youth-adult partnerships happen when young people
  and adults become engaged together in their
  communities they are relationships between youth
  and adults where there is mutuality in teaching,
  learning, and action (Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes
  Lorens, 2001).
• Youth-adult partnerships focus on nurturance
  they emphasize youth and their contributions
  rather than problems. There are three components
  of successful youth-adult partnerships (Camino,
  2000).

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Three Essential Components for Successful
Youth/Adult Partnerships

• Challenge the roles and the power that
  characterize typical youth-adult relationships.
• Master the skills and competencies that youth and
  adults need for successful partnerships
  communication, teamwork, and coaching
• Partnerships involve the development of a plan
  for community action.

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A Year With NMCE is a cyclical experience

• June Summer Institute Youth Radio Town Hall
• Summer Homework Assignment
• October Legislative Preparation
• November Legislative Roundtable Youth
  Legislative Radio Town Hall
• January NMCE Legislature Days - Strategic
  Briefing and Forum
• March Legislative Debrief and Summer Institute
  Planning

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NMCE SUMMER INSTITUTE

• A years end and
• anothers beginning
• Training workshops
• - Community Research
• - Community Mapping
• - Digital Storytelling
• - Legislative process
• - Teambuilding
• - Media Training

• Youth Radio Town Hall with Debriefing
• Year-End Report Out by each community team
• Reflection of previous years activities
• Homework assignment in preparation for next
  legislative session

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4TH ANNUAL NMCE SUMMER INSTITUTE - June 2005
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Summer Homework and Legislative Preparation

• Wall of Burning Issues
• Issue Identification and Prioritization
• Develop consensus on issues to research for
  consideration for teams legislative agenda

• Select presenters for Legislative Roundtable
  Town Hall
• Prepare issues for panel presentation to
  legislators
• In October, all groups meet for mock
  presentations to obtain critical feedback

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gt NMCE Participant Youth Groups Preparing
Issues and Finalizing Presentations
lt Summer Homework Coming to Fruition Prior to
Legislative Roundtable
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Legislative Roundtable and Youth Radio Town Hall

• Two day training to prepare researched
  presentation each communitys issues to state
  legislators
• Network with legislators to build working
  relationships
• Live Youth Radio Town Hall to voice their
  issues to a wider audience
• Energize other youth build youth voice through
  an open mic process

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NM State Legislators
Young Women United (ABQ)
Radio Town Hall Rehearsal
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New Mexico Civic Engagement Youth Making Their
Voice Heard At Youth Radio Town Halls
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NMCE Legislature DaysStrategic Briefing and Forum

• Convene for two days for training and
  legislative advocacy
• Recognizing the legislators, learning their
  background and legislative power position
• Rehearse and role play interactions with state
  legislators in different situations
  
• Develop strategy and draw up schedule to execute
  strategy for advocacy and building alliances for
  support

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Studying the Legislators, Reviewing Advocacy
Presentations and Role Playing For Legislative
Lobbying Effort
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NMCE Legislature Days

• Day Two - each participant youth group implements
  the strategic plan The Roundhouse (State Capitol
  Building)
• Early start with breakfast and a motivational
  address from a prominent legislator or government
  official
• Appointments begin early and day ends with
  lunch, a debrief and evaluation of the days
  activity

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NMCE 2006 Legislative Team
Young Women United (ABQ) With Sen. Mimi Stewart
Breakfast at Ghost Ranch Retreat
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Legislative Debrief and Summer Institute Planning

• Debrief on Legislative Days activities and
  proposed legislation
• Review evaluation of Legislative Days
• Conduct Wall of Burning Issues process to take
  temperature on current prominent issues
• Breakout groups of Youth and Adults to Brainstorm
  ideas for agenda
• Create list of recommendations for planning
  committee to develop a learning agenda

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Working the Brainstorming Process
The Wall of Burning Issues
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NMCE SI 06 - MOVEMaking Ourselves Voices of
Engagement
As a beginning point, those attending for the
first time will begin to learn the importance of
civic engagement. Those who have been here
before, approach their end point of the current
year and will have an opportunity to inform and
teach others using their past years experience
furthering the issues they have selected to
champion. They will spend four days and three
nights, learning, sharing, questioning,
socializing and preparing to serve their
communities through action.
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Learning the Lay of UNM Campus Scavenger Hunt
2005 NMCE Summer Institute Orientation
Expectations
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NMCE Process

• Site Selection and Commitment
• NMCE Network Support and Commitment to Sites
• Evaluation

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Site Selection and Commitment

• Site selection based on poverty level, scarce
  resources, diverse population and the community
  is at the education, social and economic margins
• Youth at site are organized and have a sponsor
• Youth must choose 1-3 issues in their community
  to wish to address
• Youth and sponsor must be willing to work on
  their issues year around

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NMCE Network Support and Commitment to Sites

• NMCE support in the form of training and
  skills-building based on the needs of youth and
  their work to create a collective youth voice
• Support positive youth development and the
  nurturing of youth/adult partnerships at all
  network sites
• Commitment will come in the various forms of
  access to decision-makers and governmental
  officials for youth to advocate for their
  respective issues
• Provide steady encouragement and information
  about opportunities to all the youth to continue
  on with a post-secondary education

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Evaluation

• Every activity will be evaluated by a survey
  completed by every attendee in order to determine
  its efficacy
• An outside evaluator will evaluate all major
  events
• Ongoing overall program evaluation will be
  conducted in order to consider adjustments to
  make all events of NMCE are effective learning
  opportunities

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NMCE Future Needs

• Full-time Director
• Half-time Graduate Assistant
• Full-time Administrative Assistant
• Curriculum Materials
• Regional Youth Summits/Forums
• Regional Seed Monies

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NMCE Future Growth

• Partnership with NM Youth Alliance
• Curriculum Development
• Expansion to community-based youth
• groups
• Partnerships with university departments,
  e.g., sociology, political science, etc.

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NMCE Future Activities

• Promotion of Youth Commissions statewide
• Regional Youth Summits and Town Halls
• Expand youth legislative action
• Target NMCE youth for post-secondary education
  and provide service and leadership opportunities
  within institutions
• of higher education

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NMCE Network Sites

• Acoma Boys Girls Club (Acoma) APS Violence
  Prevention Research Project (ABQ) Crownpoint
  Teen Court Eastside Weed Seed (ABQ)
  Guadalupe County Health Council (Santa Rosa)
  Health Education Livelihood Programs Anthony,
  Gallup, Lordsburg, Roswell, Santa Rosa (5) Las
  Vegas YouthBuild Las Vegas Youth Commission
  Luna County Teen Voices Coalition for Healthy
  Resilient Youth (NIYLP-Gallup) Robert F.
  Kennedy Charter HS (ABQ) So. Doña Ana County
  Action For Youth Sierra Blanca Youth Leader
  Corps Bosque Youth Conservation Corps (ABQ)
  Young Women United (ABQ) NM Youth Radio Network
  (5 sites) Youth Action (ABQ) Sunland Park
  Sawmill-Wells Park Community History Project
  Amy Biehl Charter HS (ABQ) Sembrando Semillas
  (NM Acequia Assn. -Taos)

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Thank You To Our Supporters

• Surdna Foundation
• New Mexico Department of Health
• New Mexico Community Foundation
• Daniels Fund
• Corporation for National Community Service
• New Mexico Commission on Volunteerism
• UNM College of Education

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NMCE Advisory Board

• Robert Baade, RFK Charter School, Educator (Head
  Teacher)
• David Lee Garcia, Acoma Boys and Girls Club
• Karlene Martinez , Las Vegas Youth Commission
• John Martinez , Exec. Director, HELP New Mexico
• Michael Milam, Doña Ana County Youth Advocate
  Chairman, NMCE Advisory Committee
• Wendy Wintermute, Service Learning Network, NM
  Forum for Youth in Community

• Daphne Harvey Strader, Albuquerque Public Schools
  Prevention/Intervention Specialist
• Karen White, NM Dept. of Health, Office of School
  Health
• Rob Shumer, University of Minnesota, Consultant
• Fred Griego, Senior Community Fellow -NMCE
  (Ex-Officio Member)
• Michael M. Morris, Ed.D., Director, Community
  Learning Public Service, UNM

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For More Information about NMCE Contact -
Albert Arocha NMCE Senior Student
Fellow Ph [phone] Email
aarocha_at_unm.edu