— a reunion, discussion and celebration of what the Encampers learned during the summer intensive. This annual event is also an opportunity for recent Encampers to network with other alums as they put their experiences to work in local projects. The event gives them access to a community of adults with a variety of knowledge, skills, careers and experience who attended Encampments in past decades. Click for InterGen video excerpts in the 2022 Week Three blog (at bottom).

Participant Quotes

“Thank you, organizers — as a parent, I am so glad about the work the Encampment does with the young people and the intergenerational knowledge and skills-sharing that occurs.” – Demetria Shabazz, 2020 parent

“It is the most immediate way to know what youth are dealing with in their school & community; It comes out in their reporting, words, song & art.” — Roni King, 71MT alum (2021 InterGen)

“Thank you for getting me up, physically, mentally and emotionally! ‘And Now’ — this song — love it!” – Sandy Weil, Supporter (2022 InterGen)

“People in my [InterGen] breakout group encouraged me to make my action plan work – to go in ready to make a change. It’s inspiring and helpful that people believe that I can make this plan work and make a difference in my community.” – Nicholas, 2020 Encamper

“I’m inspired by the social construct of authentic learning. As an educator, this is the way we need to allow youth to learn. Find their passion, what is important in their community, learning and connecting to see various perspectives and creating an action plan to improve their communities …” — Veronica Rauschenberger, EFC organizational partner and supporter

This takes the form of large-group Zoom meetings, smaller-group meetings with Program Director Jesus Salcido Chavarria, and individual support for specific challenges in implementing their action plans.

While the program emphasizes taking action, there is no expectation that action plans will be complete by November — only that they will be underway.

The group has an orientation in June, with the summer intensive following in July. They meet again in August to learn the basics of the follow-up program and for reorientation on the structure, content, and scheduling meetings.

From September through November, the whole group meets with the program director every two weeks to focus on elements of the action plan process, including specific strategies for communication, community engagement, and time management. Encampers are encouraged to reflect on their ideas in an open discussion setting. Everyone participates and offers support to their peers, so relationships continue to develop. The whole-group meeting is also an opportunity for young people to talk about what is on their minds in regard to current events or issues at the forefront of their lives.

In addition to the whole-group meetings, each young person meets individually with the program director to discuss their plan’s details, their struggles, and any adjustments they feel need to be made.

In addition, we will introduce our organizational partners, such as Peace First and The Changemaker Project, which assist with the implementation of young people’s projects, including funding opportunities.

An example of an action plan that was created during the follow-up program arose from a question from an Encamper who wants to address the climate crisis in her community. She asked, “What can I do in my community to make it more sustainable?” The group helped this Encamper brainstorm ideas, including organizing to start a composting system at her school. Later, she asked about how to figure out “Who else in my community cares about sustainability?” These questions resulted in a week-long educational series and composting workshop organized by the Encamper. Teachers, students, and business and restaurant owners participated in her “Week of Sustainability” series at her school. Her peers were so engaged that a permanent student-led composting system is now in place.

This is what she had to say about her follow-up program experience:

 

“It was one week before the week of [sustainability] lectures began, and I wasn’t feeling really confident about it. I was not that sure, and ready to give up because I didn’t think people would engage with the project. I discussed that with Jesus (Salcido Chavarria, program director) and he encouraged me and answered a few questions. He said that ‘having this anxiety before starting things is normal; it’s OK.’ It was really nice to have someone who understood that and could help me through the whole process. When everything was happening, it happened a bit fast, but I would send pictures to Jesus and the Encampers, and they were really supportive. It was another bonding moment where we could share our concerns and the happy moments and all of it.”

2022 Encampers are back in their communities and working on:

• their college applications!
• Alvin is organizing a Cultural Awareness Day featuring artifacts, foods and fashions.
• Melanie is co-leading a Social Justice Dialogue Club and contributed a Caribbean dance to her school’s international program.
• Jason helped organize his school community to raise $6,000 for Hurricane Fiona aid. His action plan is to organize for more garbage cans in Harlem.
• Piper, a Pesticide-Free Pesticide Program intern is part of the social media team sharing PFSP’s work with the community.
• PFSP intern Joaquin helped harvest cempasúchil (traditional Dia de Los Muertos marigolds) at the Community Roots Garden.
• Basil and Aydin are co-leading the students of color group at their school.
• Maribel is ran for first-year rep of La Voz Latina.
• Jaden successfully advocated with his principal to see that school lunches were provided consistently.
• Imani is creating a film and literature analysis club.
• Zora initiated a Black Student Alliance at her school.

It offers next-step education, leadership development and community organizing experiences for recent local EFC alums. This program provides stipends for young people who are often working 2 or 3 jobs in addition to attending high school or college.

In 2019, the Ventura County Pesticide-Free Soil Project (PFSP) evolved from a collaboration with EFC alums, local schools and community-based organizations shining a light on the issue of pesticide-use at school sites and its impact on people in the surrounding neighborhoods. Under the leadership of Project Director Florencia Ramirez and Intern Director Juna Rosales Muller, we are focusing on building leadership among youth in Ventura County, including some from farmworker families, to address pesticide use and other issues.

A core of local EFC alums plus recent Encampers are engaged in more training and organizing experience in conjunction with our organizational partners. They include, depending on the project: Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Californians for Pesticide Reform, the Community Roots Garden, Rio School District, Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), the Abundant Table, the Public Health Institute, and the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE).

Current projects include the ongoing Compost Tea Party, hosted each year at a different Rio School District school; a social media project (@pesticidefreesoilproject) documenting what they are learning; a  15-minute video giving an overview of the PFSP project that featured at the 2021 Santa Barbara Virtual Earth Day; and The Other Strawberry Festival: Stories of People, Land and Resistance, a virtual gathering about food system justice, held each May and hosted by the Pesticide-Free Soil Project and the MICOP Tequio Youth Group. This event includes an Art and Poetry Contest for young people 22 and under.

“… We’re all in it together. That’s what the basis of our group forum today is … we get to talk about it with each other. We get to look for solutions with each other.” — Maria Hernandez, EFC 1979

The InterGen Café meets every other month on the third Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific/6:00 p.m. Eastern. It engages alums and supporters of all ages in discussions about current social justice issues and provides more opportunities for networking.

Past topics include: Navigating Institutional Racism in Education; and Community Care in the Face of Injustice. The next café is April 16 and the topic is Using the Arts for Social Change. Contact the office to sign up for a Zoom link.

They address issues in that particular community with youth agency as the common thread. The participating young people identify problems and are encouraged to dig deeper to understand underlying causes. Using the arts and other modalities, they can develop immediate actions to respond to issues in either an individual or a collective way. Every workshop asks: How can you be an agent of change right now?

In 2020, interns for the Youth Advisory Council facilitated with EFC’s education director a workshop focused on voting for the PACE University Black Student Union. In previous years, nearly 700 youth in locales as diverse as the Calhoun School (New York) and Tiospa Zina Tribal School (South Dakota) participated in workshops focusing on issues of concern to that student body or organization.

“We were able to discuss topics that we normally don’t discuss as a group. Gave me great ideas and solutions for problems at school.” — Wight Foundation Scholar

“The Encampment for Citizenship … is an inspiration for those involved in progressive ideals and helps the younger generation understand the challenges they, too, will need to face so the world can always have hope for the future.” — Mirta, Upper School Spanish teacher, Calhoun School