Youth Summit

The Summit serves as an open forum for students and community representatives to discuss relevant problems and solutions to daily issues.  This day long event begins with students meeting in small discussion groups, with each group addressing a different topic. The topics vary each year but typically include: drugs, bullying & cliques, racial, ethnic & GLBT discrimination, and the environment.  Each group analyzes the topic, then recommends potential solutions to the problem.  As the day progresses, each group is joined by 1-2 policy makers, who sit in on the discussions.  The twenty policy makers are from the community and include; the mayor, state representatives, superintendents, principals, etc.  At the conclusion of the day, all the participants convene to hear representatives from each group present their findings.

Schools participating in the Summit include: Aurora Alternative High School, Bloomington High School North, Bloomington High School South, Edgewood High School, and Harmony School.  A Youth Summit Advisor from each high school is responsible for recruiting students to the Summit as well as facilitating regular student meetings following the event.  These meetings are used to implement solutions to issues discussed during the Summit.  

Following the Summit, the ABC Youth Coordinator compiles the annual Youth Summit Report and distributes it to policy makers, room monitors, and Youth Summit advisors.