Discussions

Your Name and Title: 

Tara Kajtaniak, Educator and Coordinator of Humboldt Global Youth Summit

School or Organization Name:  

Fortuna Union High School

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: 

California, USA

Language in Which You Will Present:  English

Target Audience(s):  Teachers, Administrators

Short Session Description (one line): 

Learn about how the teacher-driven Humboldt Global Youth Summit brings together diverse students, teachers, and community experts from rural northern California to discuss issues of global and local significance in this one-day summit; this year’s theme is Water Crisis, Water Politics and the Future of Sustainability.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): 

The Humboldt Global Youth Summit is a teacher-driven, student-centered day-long conference that brings students together from all over Humboldt County to learn from each other and from community experts about global and local issues.  The theme of next this year’s Global Youth Summit will be “Water Crisis, Water Politics, and the Future of Sustainability.”  Student/teacher teams research global or local water issues and design/complete projects throughout the fall and winter.  Student teams present their research and projects at the Global Youth Summit at the end of February, where they will also have the opportunity to interface with community organizations such as and HSU-based experts and organizations.

The entire goal of the Global Youth Summit is to help students understand that despite the complexity of global issues that confront us, young people can be agents of change.  The other goal is for them to focus on one global issue each year that has a local dimension.  “Think globally, act locally” is the mantra embodied by this summit.  The Global Youth Summit is not just a project for their class that gets filed away or dusty on a shelf.  It is an invitation for students to engage with their community, with each other, and with our world through local problem-solving.  The Summit is the culminating activity, their opportunity to shine and connect and be inspired by each other, but the months leading up to the Summit are equally important.  That is when young people will have the opportunity to learn that they are resourceful, they do have the ability find answers to difficult problems, and that there are people right here in rural Humboldt County who have been doing the important work of the world and can help them.  Working in teams, hearing about what is possible and what people are doing to solve pressing global issues is the ultimate producer of hope and optimism in the complex and challenging global landscape our students are inheriting.

In this session, Tara Kajtaniak, full-time public school English teacher and founder of the Humboldt Global Youth Summit, will talk about how this teacher-driven DIY project came together and provide guidance to teachers, administrators, and community leaders on how they can create a summit in their own school and community where students can increase their global competencies, connect with other inspired young people, and present to an authentic audience.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

https://humboldtglobalyouthsummit.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HumboldtYouthSummit/

Twitter:  @TaraNuth