Our Centers

Center for Education for Liberation

ACADEMIC SUPPORT

Tutoring and Homework Help

All YMPJ members receive one hour of tutoring daily, working in groups of three or less. Under the supervision of tutors, students work on daily homework assignments and practice reading, writing, and math skills. Students meet regularly with the Education Coordinator to discuss their grades, classes, and teachers, how they are feeling in school, any concerns they have, areas where they are struggling, and what they like and don’t like about school. With the Education Coordinator and tutors, members create plans to improve grades and study skills. They discuss ways to be active participants in their education through talking to teachers, asking questions, and connecting what they are learning to what they experience in their daily lives.

Connecting to Schools and Teachers

In order to provide the most effective academic support possible to our members, YMPJ also builds partnerships with students' schools and teachers. YMPJ staff members attend parent-teacher conferences and connect with teachers over phone and email on a regular basis. These partnerships allow us to track what students are learning about in each subject, to understand how students are doing in their classes, to fill in gaps between teacher and student expectations, and to figure out ways to supplement what is going on in the classroom with the academic support that provided at YMPJ. At the same time, YMPJ staff members serve as advocates for our members within their schools. In a school system that is under-funded and under-staffed, where violence and harassment are a reality, and where students don’t always receive the individual attention they need, students sometimes slip through the cracks or find themselves in unfair or unjust situations. YMPJ staff members meet with teachers, guidance counselors, principals, school social workers, parents, and the students themselves to ensure that our members have access to the resources they need and feel comfortable and supported in their schools.

Planning for the Future

YMPJ members who are in eleventh and twelfth grade receive guidance in applying to college or creating other post-graduation plans. Students have access to a large library of books on applying for financial aid, preparing for the SATs, writing college essays, as well as several books profiling two and four year colleges around the country. Students who are planning to apply to college can use their tutoring time or sign up for appointments on Friday afternoons to look into colleges, practice for the SAT, draft college essays, and fill out college and financial aid applications.

Similarly, YMPJ members who are in eighth grade receive guidance in the high school application process. Eighth graders read profiles of high schools throughout New York City, discuss what they want in a high school and work with YMPJ staff to rank their choices. Students who are planning to apply to Specialized High Schools can choose to use their tutoring time to prepare for auditions or high school admissions tests.

EDUCATION FOR LIBERATION WORKSHOPS

YMPJ members participate in Education for Liberation workshops once a week. In these workshops, students are asked to think critically about the education system, discussing differences between how the educational system is currently structured and how they believe they would learn best. Students discuss their experiences in school and think about ways that they could improve the education system and become more active participants in defining how they learn. At the same time, students learn necessary skills to help them succeed in school and beyond. The workshops teach organizational skills, good study habits, peer-education and teamwork in learning, critical thinking, college preparation, job-readiness, etc.

The curriculum for the Education for Liberation Workshop is divided into five modules:

1. Self-education and Cooperation in Education. Students look at their personal learning styles and gain an understanding of how they learn best. They discuss cooperation in education and think about how they can teach and learn from each other. They learn how to organize themselves and study in a way that is most effective for them. At the same time, they practice educating themselves and others about issues that affect their communities and their lives.
2. Learning from Lived Experience. Students learn to observe the world around them and interview people in their community in order to understand and think critically about the issues at play in their lives. They learn to draw conclusions based on their observations, identify themes, see the world from different perspectives, and value the viewpoints and opinions that different people bring to the table.
3. Critical Thinking and Looking Deeper. Students look at information presented in the media and learn to question this information, check facts, and not take the information at face value. They discuss stereotypes: why they exist and how they are and are not true. And they learn to see the multiple sides to every issue.
4. College Preparation. Students are asked to look carefully at who they are and what they value in order to determine what kind of college might work for them and in order to understand how they want to present themselves in a college application. They learn the steps to getting into college and gain an understanding of the options available to them.
5. Jobs, Careers, etc. Students learn how to write resumes and cover letters, how to interview for a job, and how to succeed in a professional setting. At the same time, they look critically at what constitutes “success” and discuss ways that success is defined along racial lines.