April 4, 2018 | Sign Up to Receive ED Youth Voices
In This Issue:
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hosted the first meeting of the
administration’s Federal Commission on School Safety last
week, joined by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Health and Human
Services Alex Azar, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
Watch the recap video here.
The Commission will continue to engage stakeholders and will
hold field hearings in the coming weeks to solicit solutions and best practices
from the public.
Have your own ideas on how we can improve school safety? Send
them to safety@ed.gov.
 The White House hosted nearly 200 millennials last month for “Generation Next,” a forum for discussions with senior Administration officials that included an interview with President Donald J. Trump. Attendees at the summit included small business owners, farmers, journalists, policy analysts, and leaders from college campuses across the country. The conversation focused on how best to support this next generation of American entrepreneurs and policy advocates. The attendees met with various White House officials including Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and Special Assistant to the President Kelly Sadler. They were also joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Labor Alex Acosta and Justice Department Director of Public Affairs Sarah Flores.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hosted a Rethink Higher
Education panel on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at the SXSW EDU Conference and
Festival. She provided opening remarks and moderated a panel discussion on
innovation in higher education. You can read the secretary’s prepared remarks here.
More Americans died from opioid overdoses than from car crashes
in 2016. President Donald J. Trump is confronting this crisis by promoting
safer prescribing and reducing the flow of illicit drugs. In coordination with
President Trump’s opioid policy rollout, the White House has launched two
websites, one to fight against stigma and the other to inform the public about
the administration’s efforts to combat the crisis.
CrisisNextDoor.gov – This website is a story
collection organized so that citizens can submit their stories to demonstrate
the broad swaths of lives touched by the epidemic and thus reduce the stigma of
the opioid crisis.
Opioids.gov – The site outlines the core
causes of this epidemic and the actions of the Trump administration related to
overprescribing, stopping the flow of illicit opioids, and increasing access to
treatment – all pillars of the president’s opioid plan.
Last week, nearly 70 students from four states visited the U.S.
Department of Education and inspired ED staff to help improve the education
system in America so that it works for all students. These students came
prepared to ask questions, curious to know what the federal government’s role is in education.
Each group of students shared the uniqueness of their programs and the
challenges they face in their schools. They exhibited determination, optimism,
civic engagement and forward thinking. They let us know that their voices are
the key to sparking effective change. Click here for more details.
Know a person, group, or organization working with young people for positive
change? If you think they would like to be profiled on the Youth Engaged 4 Change
website, please nominate them by submitting a nomination form here.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the Institute for
Educational Leadership (IEL) hosted the fourth annual Samuel Halperin Lecture and Youth Public Service
Award in Washington, D.C. in March. The lecture and youth
award serve as an ongoing tribute to their founder, Sam Halperin, who dedicated
his life and career to improving youth education, and workforce and policy
outcomes. The winner, Santos Amaya Guevera, appeared at the lecture to share
her winning essay with education and youth policy leaders from the D.C. area
and around the nation.
The AP profiled the “intergenerational
learning program” at an Indiana assisted living facility, Jill’s House. Elderly
residents, most of whom are affected by memory loss, spend 45 minutes each day
with preschool children for socializing and learning activities. This model of
combating social isolation has been used in Europe and Asia, and seen benefits
to both seniors and young children. The results are greater learning and
conditioning for children, and improved mental health and cognition for
seniors.
Big Island (Hawaii) Now published the
winners of this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition Hawai’i Regional, which was
held on March 23 and 24. Several teams received “honors that rewarded design
excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship and high impact partnerships
between schools, businesses and communities.” Friends of Hawai’i Robotics
announced that “Hilo High School’s robotics team, along with teams representing
Waialua and McKinley High,” will now advance to the World Championships in
Houston next month. The organization’s president and chairman, Lenny Klompus,
said “With the sustained support of the Hawai’i robotics ‘ohana,” … the annual
“robotics competition will continue to grow and inspire students to study math,
science and engineering.”
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