Archive: Uncategorized

Youth testimonials on Exclusionary Discipline Policies: Bridging Experience and Data

Minnesota has huge disparities in the application of exclusionary disciplinary policies. Black youth are 7 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students. Native youth are 6.5…

What is a “Bilingual Seal?”

By: Emily Kay, GradMinnesota AmeriCorps VISTA How many languages do you speak, read, and write fluently?  In Minnesota, 8.3% of K-12 public school students are identified as English Language Learners. …

School-wide Restorative Culture: A Conversation with Alexis Goffe

Research has shown that when addressing conflict in school, exclusionary practices such as expulsions and suspensions are not effective in either improving student behavior or school climate (Skiba, Shure, Middelberg…

Creating Positive Spaces for Twin Cities Youth: The Wakanheza Project

By: Emily Kay, Minnesota Alliance With Youth AmeriCorps VISTA serving with GradMinnesota  Think back to when you were a teenager, around age 15 or 16...  What was life like for…

Recognizing the Excellent Work of Four GradNation Communities in Minnesota

In May of 2017, GradMinnesota offered stipends of $1000 to support community-specific programming and activities that aim to increase student engagement, success in school, high school graduation and postsecondary success…

Promise Fellow Week Throwback Thursday!

Happy Promise Fellow Week Throwback Thursday! It’s #TBT Promise Fellow style and we’re throwing it back to the 90s when the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow program was born! Download our special…

Alumni Star: Joy McBrien

Joy McBrien is the CEO and Founder of Fair Anita, a social enterprise and one of the first Public Benefit Corporations in Minnesota. Fair Anita works with 8,000+ women in…

Alumni Star: Kate Byrne

Kate works for the Brooklyn-based non-profit Girl Be Heard, a non-profit that amplifies, develops, and celebrates the voices of young women through socially conscious theatre-making.  As Executive Assistant, Kate is the…

Alumni Star: Keegan Freiburger

Keegan Freiburger served as a 2015-16 AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Minneapolis Public Schools’ Roosevelt High School.  Keegan says “I feel deeply grateful for my experience as a Promise Fellow because…

Alumni Star: Kia Lor

Kia Lor served as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow during the 2013-14 academic school year at Edgewood Middle School in Mounds View, MN. When Kia joined AmeriCorps, she was undecided about…