On March 7, Regi Worles (12) and Becca Folkes-Lallo (10) led workshops at the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service-Learning in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. The two became involved in the conference through their internship at Bridge Builders CHANGE and started year-long community action projects around the issue of their choice.

As Social Media, Arts, & Technology Coordinator of CHANGE, Jade Thiraswas emphasizes the empowerment of teens.

“This was the first year for the Youth Track portion of The Tennessee Conference for Volunteerism and Service-Learning,” Thiraswas said. “The Youth Track was completely youth-created and youth-led which was very cool and consisted of workshops led by youth from all over Tennessee.”

Worles helped found the Memphis Youth Union, a coalition of students that promotes youth/adult equity in schools, city functions, businesses and nonprofits. Youth Ignite is a product of MemYU. Worles’s workshop at the Franklin conference focused on sharing skills youth will need to start a movement.

“As a young person typically, especially in high school, we aren’t the ones making decisions,” Worles said. “We are told to do every single thing that we do except for maybe extra curriculars…And sometimes once we get there, we don’t even have control over what happens there. And so, to be a young person, you have to be able to say ‘this is what I want. Just because you have this experience and you’re older than me doesn’t mean that I’m not educated enough to say, ‘Hey I have an opinion and my way of working could be better than yours.’”

One of the tactics Worles taught was the use of change art. The tactic involves two boards, one labeled “You Want It” the other labeled “You Got It,” provide a place for students to physically see their goals.

“It’s just a way to, like, keep the people in charge accountable of the things that the young people want,” Worles said. “And then, from that “You Want It” board, people would be advocating for that change to happen…or at least for some type of decision to be made.”

Folkes-Lallo helped create the Memphis Against Sexual Harassment Association. Surveys were distributed at White Station and other communities and workshops led by BRIDGES. MASHA defines sexual harassment as any unwanted physical, verbal, or visual advances; data collected found that 90% of Shelby County students had been sexually harassed.

“Our first goal is to create a system of bases, almost like school clubs…for youth to come and address this issue and work to create policy change in their individual schools,” Folkes-Lallo said. “Once we start these bases we give them the tools and the resources and the support that they need to create policy change.”

MASHA would like to make sexual harassment a higher class offense. According to the 2015-2016 SCS Student Handbook, sexual harassment is a Category D offense with punishments ranging from parent-principal conference, before/after school detention/Saturday school, in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension. According to Folkes-Lallo, MASHA would like to make sexual harassment a Category B offense and possibly offer remediation classes for offenders during their suspension.

“[Worles and Folkes-Lallo] have always been so impressive, dedicated and hardworking, and this experience only enhanced these strengths,” Thiraswas said. “We returned back to Memphis and back to BRIDGES feeling accomplished and ready to keep working on building our campaigns.”