The NYS Youth Leadership Council is an organization working for the advancement of immigrant youth and the children of immigrants through leadership development, organizing and advocacy.  The YLC was founded in 2006 by immigrant youth, many of whom were undocumented, who came together to advocate for equal access to higher education for immigrant young people and the passage of the DREAM Act. 

Although we will no longer work as an independent organization, we will still offer the same workshops on the rights of immigrant parents in NYC public schools and how they can get involved in their children's education.  We will also be expanding the YLC's efforts to educate parents on the college application process as well as on the DREAM Act.

We look forward to heading in this exciting new direction and we hope to continue our work to promote the meaningful participation of immigrant parents in their children's schools for years to come. 

You can email us at joe@nysylc.org.  Our phone number will now be 212-627-2227 x248.

Thank you so much for your support for these past two and a half years!

Best,
Joe and Silvia

THE LATEST

3/13/2009
PAIHS PARENT FACILITATION TRAINING

PIVE held a facilitation training with PAIHS's parent leaders.  They learned basic skills for facilitating meetings and had a chance to hold a mock meeting to apply those skills to challenging situations. 

This summer, we will publish our parent leadership training materials on our website.

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2/16/2009
LOTS OF WORKSHOPS PLANNED FOR THIS SEMESTER
PIVE has already held two workshops this year, and has at least four more planned for the coming months.

We have also developed a new workshop on immigration status and education.  If you are interested in holding a workshop with PIVE, see our Workshops page, or contact us at info@nypive.org. 

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11/26/2008
SCHOOL OF PARENTS NOVEMBER UPDATES!
PAIHS's parent leaders had a hugely successful month as the School of Parents (La Escuela de Padres) officially opened.  The School of Parents is a space where PAIHS families can come together to learn, share experiences and become more involved in school leadership and their children's education.

PIVE works collaboratively with PAIHS's parent leaders on the development of this initiative, providing constant support, weekly  planning meetings and leadership trainings, and helping to coordinate workshops.

We got off to a great start in November!  We held a workshop with the school's guidance counselor, giving parents an opportunity to de-brief on their children's first semester grades and graduation requirements at PAIHS.

The following week, we organized a panel of former Internationals students to talk about their experiences learning English as immigrant high school students.

Finally, parents raised nearly $2,000 in a Family Day Fundraiser held on November 22nd! 

The event included food from five different countries, raffles and contests, and performances by students.

We congratulate the parents on all their hard work, and look forward to continuing our work with the School of Parents!

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10/20/2008
PAIHS UPDATES: WEEKLY PARENT TRAININGS AND
LA ESCUELA DE PADRES
PIVE is now holding weekly trainings and skills-building workshops with PAIHS' parent leaders.  So far, we have trained parents in facilitation skills, effective reflections and technology.

We are also officially launching La Escuela de Padres (The School of Parents) next month.  Take a look at this flyer (in Spanish).  La Escuela de Padres is an initiative of PAIHS' parent leaders that will provide a space for dialog and support among parents.  The parents will invite guest speakers and host workshops on educational and parenting/family issues.  PIVE is providing a great deal of support and guidance to the parents as they launch this project.

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8/26/2008
PIVE PRESENTS AT STATEN ISLAND IMPACT CONFERENCE
PIVE gave a presentation at the NYIC's Staten Island IMPACT Conference on parents and students rights in our schools.

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8/1/2008
YOUTH 2 YOUTH HITS TRAVERS PARK!

PIVE co-sponsored this year's Youth 2 Youth 'Social Justice Film Fiesta' in Jackson Heights' Travers Park.  The afternoon included games, live performances, an interactive art table and several short films related to immigration and NYC youth.  Take a look at a few pictures from the event, including PIVE's game "El Baile del Limón."

        

         

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7/31/2008
TESTIMONY AT DOE HEARINGS COVERED IN THE STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE AND QUEENS CHRONICLE

Co-Director Joe Taranto's testimony at the Staten Island C4E hearings was quoted in a Staten Island Advance cover story:

Among them was Joe Taranto, co-director of a student-run group called Promoting Immigrant Voices in Education, who said he was frustrated to hear that only about 4 percent of the money would be used to help non-native English speakers citywide. He added that just one school on Staten Island chose to use its share of the funds toward programs for English Language Learner, or ELL, students.

"Even as the DOE reports improvements in graduation rates in our schools, ELLs continue to have among the highest dropout rates in the city," he said. "Only 26 percent of ELLs graduate within four years and about half of ELLs drop out after seven years."

Please click here to see the full SI Advance article.

Meanwhile, Co-Director Silvia Gonzales got coverage in the Queens Chronicle for her powerful testimony at the C4E hearing in Jackson Heights:

Silvia Gonzales, of the New York Immigration Coalition, wanted to see improvements with students learning English. She said this population has the lowest graduation rates in the city, with just 26 percent of ELL students graduating after four years and 50 percent dropping out after seven years.

Please click here to see the full Queens Chronicle article.

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7/29/2008
CO-DIRECTORS TESTIFY AT DOE HEARINGS IN QUEENS AND STATEN ISLAND
PIVE Co-Directors Silvia Gonzales and Joe Taranto testified at Department of Education hearings on this year's Contracts for Excellence (C4E) proposal.  This funding is connected with the historic Campaign for Fiscal Equity case.  Click below to take a look at our testimonies:

                    Silvia (Queens)        Joe (Staten Island)

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7/15/2008
PIVE CO-SPONSORS Y2Y AND IMPACT EVENTS WITH NYIC
PIVE is co-sponsoring two events with the New York Immigration Coalition.  The first is this year's Youth 2 Youth event, an outdoor Social Justice Film Fiesta on August 1st in Jackson Heights.  Please click here for a flyer.  PIVE is also co-sponsoring and presenting at the NYIC's IMPACT Conference for immigrant parents in Staten Island.  More information is coming soon.

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6/22/2008
PIVE CO-SPONSORS PAIHS' FIRST ANNUAL FAMILY RETREAT
PIVE co-sponsored the First Annual Family Retreat at our partner school, Pan American International HS (PAIHS).  In collaboration with the Puentes program and the amazing parents of the school's Parent Leadership Team, we took families to a retreat house in New Rochelle, where we had leadership-building and reflective activities for parents and students, and also took the time to do some planning for the next school year, when PAIHS will see its student population double.  We also took the time to barbecue and play some fun family games. 

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Our mission

For more information on our mission and history, please click here.

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