On May 24th, 2018 student groups from 29 Oregon middle and high school spent a day together for the annual TeachOUT Youth Leadership Summit.

Close to 300 students spent the morning in workshops developing self expression and student leadership skills.  Following the morning of activities students gathered for a keynote talk with Dylan Marron.

Along with the students there were 40 teachers, advisors, and administrators in attendance working alongside their students.  And in the background were another 40 future teachers (UO College of Education Students) working hard to make the entire day happen.

With smiles all around it was an incredible day.   Students walked out the door at the end of the day with new friends, a boost to their sense of community, a new T-Shirt, and most importantly a rainbow rice krispy treat.  

As groups of students headed off to their busses we heard over and over again, "I can't wait for next year!"

HERE ARE THE PRESENTER BIOS FROM THE DAY:

Dylan Marron is an IFP Gotham Award & Drama Desk-nominated writer, performer, and video maker. He is the voice of Carlos on the hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale, an alum of the New York Neo Futurists, and the creator of Every Single Word (Tumblr's "Most Viral Blog" of 2015; Shorty Award Nominee), a video series that edits down popular films to only feature the words spoken by people of color.  As a writer & correspondent at Seriously.tv Dylan created, hosted, and produced Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People, Shutting Down Bullsh*t, and the Unboxing series.   He is currently working on Conversations with People Who Hate Me, a podcast where he has extended conversations with some of the folks who negative things about him on the internet. It was selected as a Podcast Pick by USA Today & The Guardian. The show is a Webby Nominee for Best Individual Episode and a Webby Honoree for Best Podcast Series.

Cullin Vance is a professional storyteller and actor. Vance provides highly engaging theatrical experiences and workshops aimed at empowering students through the magic of theatre. Students will learn real-world theatrical techniques used by the pros to own their voice, think outside the box, and create with confidence.

Eric Braman is the Arts Education Coordinator for Lane Arts Council.  He has held positions at the University of Oregon in Experiential Education & Prevention Initiatives, Sexual Violence Prevention & Education, and University Housing; served two years with AmeriCorps at Chemeketa Community College and Campfire USA, Alaska Council; and has led and performed with Rehearsals for Life, Tesseract Theatre Company, and the Worklight Improv Team. Eric has completed trainings with the Mandala Center for Change (Theatre of the Oppressed), Second City Chicago (Comedic Improv), and Kelli Simpkins (Tectonic Theatre Technique). Eric earned his Master of Nonprofit Management from UofO and BA in Theatre Performance and Creative Writing from Western Michigan University. 

Lauren Suveges has worked for the Lane Arts Council, the International Society for Technology in Education, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art as a Museum Educator.  Lauren has expertise in both teaching and supporting in-school and out-of-school arts programming. Lauren earned a BA in Studio Arts from Otterbein University in Columbus, OH, and her MS in Arts and Administration, Community Arts Management from the University of Oregon. Lauren serves on the Board of Directors for the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts (MECCA) and teaches an art and yoga class for kids at Freedom Yoga and Meditation.

Thank you for supporting this project and a special thanks to those of you who have been so generous with your time and resources. The campaign ends on May 25th and we need all the help we can reaching out to families, teachers, and advocates to meeting our goal.

If there are three people you can forward this email to you will help us all to spread the word about the great work teachers can do to create safe schools. Share the DuckFunder link with your friends.

And if we are lucky, we will also reach a few more willing donors who can help us make the 2018 Youth Leadership Summit happen!

Over winter break Tina and I have been working our way through the data for 2017 to write the Oregon Safe Schools annual report on LGBT youth in Oregon schools. I must tell you it is a painful bit of research to process each year. This report will once again show that ALL of our schools in Oregon are consistently unsafe and unkind places for sexual orientation and gender identity minority kiddos. It is so disheartening to share that data without simultaneously working on projects that can make a difference for the future.

To that end, we need your help sharing our DuckFunder campaign for donations to help us work with future teachers to combat homophobia and gender bias in schools.

Hear from Ixchel (student teacher alumni) and her sister their experience with TeachOUT.