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YD Youth Leaders

Contact Us: youth-decide@lwvoakland.org

Teachers Lead the Way!

Youth Leaders, Aida Amin and Natania Biniam, interview with teacher Olivia Werby:

Interview with Olivia Werby, a teacher of the STOak (Social Transformation of Oakland) program, at the College Preparatory School.

What is STOak and what motivated its creation?

Olivia: STOak is place-based education, a deep dive into understanding our city and the historical situations and social forces that have created our current dynamics. It is also about youth empowerment; once students are grounded in historical understanding, they can begin to see ways they can act on situations as they see them. It's a student-led course where students learn to collaborate and form teams, which is how social change happens. At the core of STOak is the summer internship, where students move from studying history to the present day.

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How do you think STOak students can engage with the Oakland community?

Olivia: A lesson that we all need is humility and listening to lived experience, uplifting people who are experiencing these topics that we're talking about, and people who have dedicated their lives to working on these issues. The people who experience these issues have to be at the center of creating the change we are aiming for. I would never want students to see the community as the source of problems and themselves as the source of solutions.

How does the course prepare students to participate in civic life?

Olivia: STOak gives students practice in being lifelong engaged active participants in their communities in ways that aren't about dominating or holding power over, but rather creating power with their communities. When you approach things from a level and are also embedded within organizations that are doing this hard work every day, students have a model for what it looks like to actually get involved and feel empowered.

What gives you hope when you think about Oakland’s future?

Olivia: Oakland has a deep legacy of young people taking action and leading positive movements towards change. I see my students recognize that in the past and recognize that in themselves. I have a lot of hope seeing the way students are energized by understanding that they can do something and that they can get involved. And they would not be the first to do so—young people have been doing that in Oakland for generations.

From Alexandria Osei-Amoako, The College Preparatory School:

As the Dean of Equity and Belonging at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, California, in community with other adults on campus, I work to help students understand themselves as engaged citizens of the Bay Area and the greater world.

We cultivate this by inviting community experts like the League of Women Voters Oakland's YOUth DECIDE committee, politicians, activists and artists to our campus to conduct workshops, set up voter registration booths, sit on panels and lead discussions with our students to share how they can engage politically—even those not yet able to vote.

We also offer opt-in learning spaces through our open classroom series, under topics such as "Speech Now" and "Democracy Under Duress.” These spaces allow students to explore democratic principles and current events in community with one another and through points that feel accessible and interesting.

When students leave our campus, we want them to carry not just knowledge, but the confidence to participate meaningfully in shaping the world they want to see.

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From Mitzy Valdes, Street Academy:

Civic engagement is an important part of our society, and a powerful experience. There are many ways for community members to participate in American democracy.

Learning about these options and starting a routine of engagement as a young person will encourage adulthood participation.

At our school, we work to support various forms of civic engagement for students and staff, including contacting elected officials and arranging a field trip for students to go vote in person. Voter education is a part of English and History instruction.

Resources and support from YOUth DECIDE and the League of Women Voters of Oakland have been really helpful. Our high school students easily responded to and are engaged with the materials.

What Students Told Us They Learned About Voting

YOUth DECIDE has been giving civic education presentations to 9th to 12th grade classes at Oakland high schools
from 2018 to the present, including Bishop O'Dowd, Castlemont, College Preparatory School, Fremont,
Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland Tech, Skyline, and Street Academy.

After the presentations, we asked students what they learned about voting
from the presentations and what issues they are concerned about.

Join Our YOUth DECIDE Team

Teachers inspire teenagers every day.

The League of Women Voters includes many current and retired teachers and members from a variety of backgrounds, who are committed to and passionate about teaching students about voter registration, voter education and get out the vote efforts in a wide range of Oakland schools and community colleges.

Join us and help expand our program! To volunteer, please email youth-decide@lwvoakland.org.