LEAPS 2009

April has come and gone, but the buzz surrounding the second annual LEAPS Academy continues! Click here to read more...

Teens Lead at Work and Community Action Agency Somerville's Jovenes Latinos are proud to say that the second annual Leadership Education in Action to Promote Safety (LEAPS) for Young Workers Academy is a major success! The academy took place from April 22-24, 2009 in Boston's City Year Headquarters and it would not have been possible without our supporters and sponsors, or the hard work of the peer leaders.

In the months leading up to LEAPS, the peer leaders of TL@W and CAAS paired up to design the academy and to practice their faciliatation, leadership, and conflict resolution skills. They also planned and implemented a successful outreach strategy, resulting in a broader participant range this year.  

This year's LEAPS Academy brought together 8 teams from across Eastern Massachusetts. The teams included teens from different youth organizations and schools. In all, about 45 people took part in the academy this year, including 8 adult advisers, a dramatic increase from last year. 

The teams participated in team building activities to prepare them to work together on their community action projects, while also engaging in hands-on workshops about workplace health and safety issues, workplace violence prevention (in terms of sexual harassment), and were introduce to experts in the field of education and advocacy, media, organizing, and labor unions. The experts were there to answer their questions on how each focus could help young workers. Adult advisers were also actively participating in the conference with workshops and trainings of their own. They received workshops on how to support their young people in terms of youth development, in terms of what to do if they see sexual hasrassment happening in the workplace, and how to be supportive advisers through the use of playfulness.

We are looking forward now to the LEAPS Summit, where we will get to see all the different projects come to fruition. Keep on checking the website for information about the summit!

• For highlights from the first annual LEAPS Academy, click here.
• For highlights from this year's LEAPS Academy, click here.