Summer Empowerment Institute 2022
Summer of 2022 marked the return of the Empowerment Institute in its original form. The two years of shifting to and creating virtual spaces to continue learning necessitated by the COVID pandemic proved valuable in that we were able to offer programming to those based outside of California and were interested in our approach. The virtual book clubs we hosted in 2020 and 2021 allowed for in depth exploration of important texts such as The Hate U Give and Piecing Me Together, but they did not replace the in-person feel of watching students get to know each other, experience hitting a golf ball clean for the first time or winning a point against an opponent in tennis. Suffice to say there was a stark difference to the feeling I had after the virtual programming ended compared to how I felt on July 29th when I said goodbye for the final time to this year’s Institute participants.
This year the historical focus of the Institute was on Barbados and their recent independence from the Commonwealth. The students easily connected to the country once they understood that Rihanna is from there and were genuinely interested in the unique features of the island. For example, it is one of the few places where baobab trees are found. I was very impressed with the students’ creations when they were tasked with combining the Bajan flag with a landscape photo depicting the Bajan shoreline. I hope that the works on canvas did not end up in the trash as soon as they made it home because they were really good. Equally impressive was the level of tennis and golf play this year. We went to Maggie Hathaway Golf Course located in the Jesse Owens Park complex and used the driving range for three days under the eye of course pro Charles Womack and then on the fourth day had a three hole tournament. It was impressive to see the competitive nature come out in students who had largely never swung a golf club before much less played a hole. The same competitive nature was on display on the tennis court as the week wore on, and it was a reminder of why we wanted to include lifetime sports in the institute in the first place. You never know what will spark interest in a young person and it is never too early to give exposure to sports allow for a lot of social networking while also allowing for a physical workout. I was energized to figure out more exposure opportunities having watched the students take to golf and tennis this summer.
While my “day job” has me as busy as ever, this summer’s institute reminded me that there is value in what we have put together and no matter how tired I get, I have to keep finding ways to make it happen. One of the ways that became evident this summer was to keep finding talented, passionate individuals to help teach. Olivia Sparks did an amazing job teaching the students about SLAM poetry and working with them to produce their own poems which they presented on the final day of the Institute. The students could sense how passionate Olivia is about poetry and it lead them to really reflect on their own lives and share about their own passions. I look forward to finding additional passionate teachers in the future.
Looking forward to next year and not only planning for the Summer Institute, but finally having an overnight Institute experience for 9th and 10th graders which we have been planning to do for a number of years now. Thanks for all those who continue to support Roots of Knowledge and we look forward to touching base soon.