Smash Apathy

NEW LEADERSHIP FOR CITY-WIDE SU!!!

2009-09-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

In an epic battle for control of the most powerful progressive, secondary-students union, new leadership has emerged and old leaders have taken new position. Students United is ready to handle your issues in the new year.

TJ Lewis: Previously El Presidente, has moved on to the Board Representative position and will represent Students United in their new home at Sunflower Community Action's board. His experience and excellence will come in handy.

Charity Jones: A new member last year, Charity loves math and ran uncontested for the enviable Treasurer position. Her much needed financial leadership will guide SU in the search for funding and the budgetary process.

Elizabeth Newman: Another new member, Liz was instrumental in last year's victory at North High to get black history month programs available to students (unbelievable? Believe it). Now Liz is ready to lead in recruitment and retention as SU's new Membership Chair.

Roman Valenzuela: A member of 4 years, Roman has been active in NPA, Leadership School, the Tazer campaign, the Anti-Discrimination campaign and more. His clear credentials, expertise, and support for Direct Action mobilizations to achieve a place at the negotiation table allowed him to dislodge and free-up incumbent, TJ Lewis, for his new position. Wichita students, meet your new President.

Anonymous: The new Outreach Coordinator has chosen to remain anonymous so as to not compromise the position of valuable agents in the field. But don't worry, very soon her name will be made public.

First Meeting at SE!

2009-09-03T10:42:00.001-07:00

September 9th, during lunch, Rm. F-7.

More coming soon.

Making Burritos at Leadership School

2009-06-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Was a blast! I had to budget out mixed, frozen peppers and fresh cilantro and green onions, but it was still awesome. Nobody complained, but I could tell the lack of jalapeno peppers was a major issue. Thank goodness for the great kitchen at Riverwalk, though I'd advise future cooks to beware of trying to cook too much rice at once in their pots... that didn't go so well. Next time, I'd just skip the rice altogether. And get less beans. Plenty of leftover beans out there...

This is just my assessment of leadership school, but it was simply great. A great experience for a leader with no or a great deal of experience in their field. It's a great way to sharpen your most basic skills as a leader: story telling, direct action, etc. This should get put in a publik skool curriculum. Seeriously.

Si Se Puede

2009-03-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to download the full flyer

Hope Street Youth Development, Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity (SLB) and Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) are hosting ¡Si Se Puede!, a Muti-Cultural celebration honoring Cesar Chavez. The event will be held at Wichita State University on March 31st, 2009.

Cesar Chaves was a Hispanic Community Organizer who was responsible for the United Farm Workers of America. His efforts for social justice and social change have been recognized by millions. He inspired many of the civil rights leaders including Rudy “Corky” Gonzalez, Reyes Tijerina, and the living legend Dolores Huerta.

The guest speaker for the event is Leo Prieto. Mr. Prieto emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico with his parents to Garden City, KS. v Throughout high school he excelled scholastically and athletically. Upon graduation he chose to attend Kansas State University followed by University of Kansas School of Law. Leo has worked in Law, Politics, the non-profit world, along with Sports & Entertainment.

New taser information

2009-03-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

Amnesty International has been a crucial organization in documenting and fighting Taser abuse in the United States and beyond. Their resources are a helpful addendum to the Student’s United report, Shocking: Tasers in our Schools.”

Visit the following link to view Amnesty International's taser report:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/taser-abuse/page.do?id=1021202

Anti-Discrimination Victory!

2009-02-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

Students, staff and board members of Hope Street Youth Development wish to commend the USD 259 Board of Education for taking the necessary steps to ensure that ALL students and staff are protected from discrimination regardless of their sexual orientation. This bold step is evidenced by their 7-0 passage of the inclusion of sexual orientation into their integration and diversity policy which clearly states there shall be no discrimination of staff or pupils, the busing oversight committee policy, and the equity multicultural education policy. Students United will continue to work to end all forms of discrimination including discrimination based on sexual orientation and we plan to work with the BOE on this issue.

Students United affirms the school boards leadership in this bold step of ensuring safety and security for all students and will be meeting to discuss specific next steps.

We would also like to say thanks to all of the groups and individuals who have supported students in their effort to end discrimination.

Students United creates new chant

2008-12-04T14:06:00.001-08:00

Student United, Yo
(Set to the "We Will Rock You" beat - stomp stomp clap)

We don't put up with discrimination!
We all come from the same nation!

Students united, a step above.

We replace HATE with PEACE and LOVE

Come on, Leaers, with all your might!

Students United, let's fight, fight, fight!

Student Attends NTIC Training in Chicago, IL

2008-12-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Written by Andre Seward

The other day I had the honor and pleasure to attend the National Training and Information Center Leadership Conference in the wonderful city of Chicago, Illinois. The whole conference was pretty cool. In our first meeting or whatever you call it those attending, including myself were treated to a powerful speech about not being “nice” by Shel Trapp. He really engaged the audience and made us think about positions of power, and where we sit it, in our communities and our country. And how sometimes, not being nice is the way to get people in positions of power over you to listen to you. His speech was very informative and helpful.

Afterwards we learned a song about not being nice, and that was pretty fun. Then we did a couple of exercises to help us get to know each other better and to introduce ourselves to other people at the conference. This activity was helpful to me, because otherwise I might have kept shy the rest of the conference.

Another thing that I enjoyed about the whole conference was how warm everyone was and they made me feel quite welcome. The following days we went through various workshops that improved our leadership skills. The thing that was most beneficial to me in these workshops was how interactive it was. Our interactions and activities basically decided the direction of the conference. Which was really nice, because at some conferences you just sit in chairs and listen to the speaker. Bleh.

Also, we got to plan and sort of decide some of what was going to happen at NPA in march. That was really empowering for me. Which reminds me, I got to use the microphone a couple of times during the conference to speak to the crowd attending, which was pretty fun and helped me on my public speaking skills.

The structure of the conference was also really nice, we had a lot of breaks which was really quite lovely. Being able to learn things, and interact with everyone and have a position of power was marvelous. I have a very lovely time, and I’m glad I was able to attend and would certainly do it again if I could.

Smash Apathy New Blog!

2008-12-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

We've decided to use a new blog program to keep you up to date with Students United events? What do you think?

First Post

2008-12-04T12:36:00.001-08:00

Created to test blog.