Eden Prairie Education Project

Immigrant student, leaders parents, community advocates from Eden Prairie, Minnesota have been working in their community to improve the quality of education immigrant students receive in the public schools. These student leaders are working on shifting the perception mainstream community has about the immigrant population and new arrivals in the community. They are bringing together school administrators, students and parents in order to address systemic problems that are affecting the quality of education and the educational environment within their schools. These systemic issues are lack of quality English Language Learners  curriculum, barriers to advanced/collage credit classes,  lack of parent communication, lack of cultural sensitivity and healthy school environment for students to succeed. Our student leaders have successfully organized students and parents  in the Eden Prairie School District and have been empowered to voice their concerns to school administrators. The school district agreed to work with students to make changes needed to improve the quality of education.

One of the major accomplishments of the Eden Prairie School District Project has been the completion of a video in which immigrant students spoke passionately about the challenges they face in Eden Prairie schools. This video has been incorporated into ethics training sessions for Eden Prairie administrators and teachers.

Another major accomplishment has been the designing of work-plan and recommendations by the students for the school district to follow through in order to improve the policies and practices that are holding students of color back such as removing barriers to enter advanced placement classes, improving ELL so students can get out in due time so they are not stagnant and enter mainstream classes and enter higher level reading and math classes.

Another accomplishment has been the establishment of workshops on education organizing that teaches youth and parents who to advocate in their specific schools, steps to take and address current issues within the system. Parents are assisted in successfully navigating themselves through the school system, as well as working together toward common goals.  As a result, barriers were removed in advanced classes and students were not  held back in ELL classes.

In Saint Paul, we connect and reach out to diverse immigrant and non immigrant students of color as Hmong, Oromo, Somali, African American  and Latinos that want to address emerging issues in the schools and other services which impact youth. Bringing together our diverse youth and leaders will enhance the power to address challenges and bring about positive change that can be achieved through the unification of the communities in common issues of education and mainstream barriers.

Student leaders of St. Paul Education Project have been working to  address the issue of bullying in their neighborhood high schools, helping parents who have language barriers learn how to navigate the schools successfully, and conducting youth group sessions to address issues the concern them in the community through focus groups and leadership development workshops.  Our high school student leaders from Central, Highland Park, Como High, Gordon Park High School and Murray Middle School conducted over 105 surveys from high school students to get their  feedback and recommendations on bullying prevention.  As seen in this photo, students  are presenting their findings and recommendations  to the Board of  St. Paul Public Schools to  improve bullying policies and procedures across the school district.

CrossingBarriers conducts the following presentations and workshops to local schools, teacher training programs, community centers and student organizations.

• The risks and rewards of advocacy through community partnership.
• Issues in education relating to students of color who are are not succeeding in the public school.
• A child’s Right to Education.
• Working with ELL students.
• Improving police relations for immigrant youth and students of color.
• Suggestions about working with English Language Learners.
• Public engagement in low-income communities.
• Issues, the need for civic engagement and advocacy strategies of CrossingBarriers

Youth Leadership Training Program

Our  high school student leaders developed a youth leadership curriculum in the fall of 2010. The plan is based on their own training and experiences working with community issues, learning to address issues, creating awareness and youth organizing. They emphasized the type of information that they thought would be particularly useful for future low-income student leaders who are in high school. They want  youth members in their high schools or neighborhoods who come from  low-income, face poverty, students of color, immigrant or new refugees to understand that they have the power to address issues that impact their community such as  lack of quality education, lack of resources, access to resources, bullying or etc. The curriculum has become the bases for the Youth Leadership Training Program which is a series of lessons developed and conducted by student leaders. Students reach out to other students to conduct this training. CB has already conducted workshops  and will continue to reach out to low-income students and organize a new round of training in fall 2011 throughout 2012.

Community Members

We also conduct leadership training for community members, adult students, to address education challenges within their community. Here are some quotes from students and community members regarding CrossingBarriers’ leadership training:   

• —Kirstin Casperson:  “ It was exciting to come the training. I enjoyed each session”.
• Etta Ellingsworth:  “I really enjoyed the training. It was one of the best things I have done. This has been so fulfilling.”
• ——Mirna Saucedo:  “ As an immigrant from Mexico and now in America. I learned that I had skills I never thought I had.”