IN 2025, SJLA will explore the concept of home.
Inviting youth ages 12-19 to join us.
What is a home? How do we build a home for our unique selves and our complex community in relation to and with the land we inhabit; how does this relate to housing justice and expand the concept of housing itself? These questions guide us as we explore the intersections of identity, belonging, and justice, and strive to create spaces that reflect our collective vision of equity and care.
APPLICATIONS for Spring 2025 are CURRENTLY OPEN (see below).
In Spring we will focus on issues surrounding housing justice and create a short film, learn more here. In summer we will focus on the concept of nature as home; in Fall we will explore home within ourselves.
APPLICATIONS for Summer 2025 COMING SOON.
Join us for a summer of liberation, arts, healing, and community!
early July - mid August [exact dates tbd]
Tuesdays - Fridays, 10am - 3pm
Youth are encouraged to apply as either as a SJLA participant or a SJLA Youth Staff Fellow. In order to be eligible for the SJLA Fellowship Program youth must be age 14+ with valid working papers. If you are interested in joining SJLA (or know a youth who would be a good fit), or you have any questions please email hello@kitesnest.org and we will email you when summer application open. We are currently accepting applications for our Spring 2025 semester.
Email hello@kitesnest.org to learn more
MORE ABOUT HOW to apply:
Interested in attending SJLA as youth participant in Spring 2025?
For youth ages 12-19.
All youth must complete an application to be accepted to participate in the program. We prioritize the majority of our program spots for BIPOC youth and youth from Hudson. However, everyone is encouraged to apply! The program is free for all participants.
Space is limited so get your applications in soon! We will follow up about your acceptance notification.
Applications are due now: apply here today.
Interested in working as a SJLA Youth Staff Fellow in Spring 2025?
Junior Fellows (14+) and Senior Fellows (ages 16-19) work as staff during SJLA program days.
Orientation for Fellows is a required three-day training and team-building experience before all participants join SJLA. Orientation is mandatory for all Senior Fellows. Dates TBD
Fellows are paid hourly. Work includes: helping to design and lead activities; providing mentorship to their younger peers; helping to cook meals; setting up, cleaning up, and maintaining the space; and engaging in daily reflections.
All Fellows (ages 14-19 with current working card) must complete an application to be hired as staff for the program, as well as an in-person interview. Fellows are also encouraged to apply for a position through the NY Summer Youth Employment Program of Columbia Greene Workforce.
There are limited paid Senior Fellow positions and priority goes to youth who have been Junior Fellow participants in the program and those in the NY Summer Youth Employment Program. If you’d like to apply for a Senior Fellowship next year, it’s helpful to be a Junior Fellow participant first, so consider joining us this summer!
Youth staff Fellowship positions are limited. Please fill out an application here to be considered.
Email hello@kitesnest.org or call 518-241-3540 with any questions.
MORE ABOUT SJLA
ART, MEDIA & CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Throughout the summer we use art to express and explore ideas, to ask questions, to reflect, to share, and to transform ourselves and each other. We collaborate with professional music producers, photographers, media-makers and poets to write and record songs, make visual art, screenprint t-shirts, shoot photography projects and films, write and perform poetry, choreograph dances, create public art, etc. Art supports us to take control of our own narratives: share and reflect on our lived experiences; develop our radical imaginations; mobilize our communities for action; and celebrate our joyful and creative selves.
TRANSFORMATION & HEALING
SJLA is a safe and loving space for youth to engage in the transformative work of self-discovery, identity development, and community care. In employing teens and supporting youth leaders, we intentionally work to disrupt patterns of toxicity and burnout within community activism and work — instead always centering joy and creativity, and holding space for land-based ceremony. Youth develop the skills to support the mental health of themselves and their loved ones, connect with the healing traditions of their own communities and lineages, tap into the healing potential already within us, and explore the intersections of collective healing, wellness, and justice.
POLITICAL EDUCATION
Through hands-on workshops and deep discussions, we develop our critical awareness and understanding of systems of power, privilege, and oppression. We learn about issues impacting our lives & communities, exploring policing, food insecurity, housing displacement and gentrification, incarceration, deportation, educational injustice, colonialism, gender and sexuality, and more. We learn about movements for liberation, and together we develop our visions for making our own community a more just, safe, and liberatory place.
YOUTH-LED ORGANIZING
We organize for action! We learn about the roles that people play in movements, and consider each of our own skills and passions. Are you an artist, a warrior, a builder, a healer, a storyteller? What kind of power do you bring to your community? We learn skills and strategies for making change, research issues in our community and design our own creative actions and campaigns. At the end of the summer we plan and host an epic public event for our families and neighbors, inviting them into our growing movement, as we prepare for building our campaigns throughout the year.
BUILDING THE MOVEMENT
The relationships we develop during SJLA are long-lasting: together we build a culture and community of openness and acceptance, trust and mutual support. Every week we also connect with inspiring organizers, activists and artists in our city and beyond. We travel to meet other youth groups in the Hudson Valley, Albany, and New York City, sharing our songs and art, learning about other youth organizing efforts and media projects, and building relationships for future collaborations. SJLA is a family. Our partners include the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, Wildseed, Hudson Muslim Youth, Youth FX, Found Sound Nation, Wild Gather, Soul Fire Farm, Brotherhood Sister Sol, and more…
2024 SJLA SUMMER TEAM
JASMIN AHMED, SJLA Summer Team & Alumni Association Vice President
LEBRON FRAZIER, Kite’s Nest Alumni & SJLA Summer Team
MONALISSA CARIUS, Kite’s Nest Alumni & SJLA Summer Team
AMANDA BOYD, Director of Liberatory Education
ANNA PARISI, Director of Youth Power (she/they)
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM
Every summer, we provide meaningful employment and job training to youth leaders (ages 14-19) to help facilitate and run this program, and to serve as mentors to their younger peers (ages 12-16). By employing teen staff, we make participation in the program possible for youth from low-income families. Learn more about tiers of sponsorship and make a commitment below.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SJLA
Want to look through the magic we’ve created with SJLA over the past 10 years? Visit our SJLA archives, where you can find photos, reflections, videos, songs, and more. This archive is an important artifact of the work and impact our young people and staff build and put forth in our community. We hope you find meaning and inspiration as you walk through our past programs and experience the joy and power that happens when we come together in community.
Kite’s Nest programs are made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.