The Latino Leadership Liceo is dedicated to increasing the number of Latino college bound students through the enhancement of leadership skills of Latino high school students. The three principles which guide the work of the Latino Academy provide the framework for the Liceo: (1) young people have innate leadership ability; (2) meaningful leadership opportunities strengthen young people's self-esteem; and (3) young people with a positive self-image will work toward higher academic achievement and success. Two projects already in existence, the Annual Latino Youth Leadership Convention and the Summer Latino Leadership Institute, constitute the core of the Liceo.
The Annual Latino Youth Leadership Convention brings together 100 Latino high school students from areas in Pennsylvania which have a large Latino concentration: Allentown, Bethlehem, Chester, Erie, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pottstown, Reading, West Chester, and York. These communities represent nearly 66% of the entire Pennsylvania Latino population.
The delegates have the opportunity to discuss issues, concerns and problems in specific areas which they consider to be of importance to them. Working as a team, the students also discuss strategies, suggestions and solutions to the issues identified. The delegates are then asked to commit themselves to taking back to their community their new-found knowledge and begin implementing some of the strategies which they developed in the course of the workshops. The conventions are student-centered, that is, the students define their issues and develop their own strategies; they are not lectured to by an adult. Although an adult facilitator is present, their role is to empower the youth to participate and lead the process. This is a key component in overcoming the powerlessnes which most of these young people feel; as young people they are usually viewed as recipients for the ingestion of information, not as generators and formulators of issues and solutions.
The basic premise of the convention is that these young adults are leaders, however, they are denied genuine opportunities to exercise their leadership. The purpose of the conventions is to counteract the negative messages these young people receive which make them doubt their true ability and lowers their self-esteem. The convention validates the students' issues and concerns while at the same time emphasizing the delegates' own responsibility in seeking and achieving change. The convention seeks to empower the youth to face and deal with their issues in a positive and proactive manner. Delegates are asked to make a personal commitment to their leadership (by completing a personal task) and a group commitment to a community project. This convention is the first and only forum for Latino high school students from Pennsylvania to meet as young leaders to discuss their issues.
Given the fact that students who will co-sponsor the Annual Latino Youth Leadership Convention have had limited exposure to the organizing of statewide activities, and recognizing that the level of development of the various local youth groups is different, the System Social Equity Office conducts a two-week program, the Summer Latino Leadership Institute, to assist in the organizational development of future convention hosts. The group co-sponsoring the youth convention in the spring of the next year is invited to participate. A second group, whose task is to support the leadership of the convention hosts, is also selected. The Summer Latino Leadership Institute can best be described as a leadership immersion program. Participants are expected to display their best leadership during the course of the institute and are informed of this expectation. The summer institute infuses leadership enhancement into the various components of the program: leadership training, academic preparation, cultural awareness and recreation. They receive continuous reinforcement during all aspects of the program, i.e., during training, field trips, leisure time, etc. The schedule is a challenging and motivating one with students being involved in leadership-related activities from 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM.
The Institute has the following goals: (1) to assist students in the development of Latino youth clubs; (2) to prepare future convention hosts to assume the responsibility in the organizing and running of the convention; (3) to help students develop a responsible working relationship among themselves; (4) to create networks among the various youth clubs; (5) to expose students in a positive manner to the differences and commonalities among different groups (including Puerto Ricans and other Latinos); (6) to assist students through the arts to become better familiarized with the Puerto Rican culture; (7) to promote self-discipline and task-completion; and (8) to attract students to higher education by exposing them to a positive and enjoyable college experience. Additional training and technical support is given to both youth groups during the academic year following the summer institute.
The Summer Latino Leadership Institute takes place at the State System's McKeever Environmental Center and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. During the 1994 Summer Institute, students had the opportunity to earn one university academic credit for participation in the Library Research Course. Arrangements are being made to offer participants three academic credits for successful completion of the revised curriculum of the summer institute.
Go up to the Components document.