Applications coming soon for Summer 2022!
Inviting all youth ages 13-19
4 weeks: July 12 - August 5
Tuesdays - Fridays 10am - 3pm
Email hello@kitesnest.org or donnay@kitesnest.org to learn more
MORE ABOUT HOW to apply:
Interested in attending SJLA?
For youth ages 13-19. Everyone is invited to join us!
All youth must complete an application to join the program. Applications coming soon.
Space is limited and spots are granted on a first come, first serve basis, so get your applications in soon!
Interested in working as a Senior Fellow?
Senior Fellows (ages 16-19) work as staff during SJLA program days.
Training Week for Senior Fellows occurs one week before all participants join SJLA. Training Week is mandatory for all Senior Fellows.
Senior Fellows receive a stipend for the summer. 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 Senior Fellows (ages 16-19) must complete an application to be hired as staff for the program, as well as an in-person interview. Senior Fellows are also encouraged to apply for a position through the NY Summer Youth Employment Program of Columbia Greene Workforce.
There are very limited paid Senior Fellow positions and priority goes to youth who have been participants in the program and those in the NY Summer Youth Employment Program. Consider applying for a Senior Fellowship with SJLA next year!
Email hello@kitesnest.org or call 518-241-3540 with any questions.
WEEKLY BREAKDOWN:
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.
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.
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.
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…
SJLA ADULT EDUCATORS
SHARECE JOHNSON, Arts & Media Program Director
JALAL SABUR, Resilience Builder
XOCHICOATL BELLO, Healing Strategist
DONNAY EDMUND, SJLA Program Director
ZEBI WILLIAMS, Chief Program Director
Apply now!
Would you sponsor a teen to participate in this transformative summer leadership program?
Every summer, we provide meaningful employment and job training to 10-12 youth leaders (ages 16-19) to help facilitate and run this program, and to serve as mentors to their younger peers (ages 13-16). By employing teen staff, we make participation in the program possible for youth from low-income families.
