[0:00] St. Paul Public Schools created the [0:02] Beyond Our Walls Equity Summit truly [0:04] [music] to call in the community for a [0:07] dedicated space where the work [0:08] continues. Everyone in the community is [0:11] welcome to the event. The Beyond Our [0:12] Walls Equity Summit is an opportunity [0:14] for people to come and build connect [0:17] with each other while they build their [0:19] knowledge base. And so after a day of [0:21] learning about topics their people are [0:23] passionate about, they walk away also [0:26] having made connections to organizations [0:28] and people who might be helpful to them [0:31] or who are doing work in the community [0:34] valuable to the overall goals that we [0:37] have in PPS. I first heard about the [0:40] youth ambassador program on the SPS [0:43] campus um website [music] and I joined [0:46] because it was about promoting equity [0:48] and just coming together for that class. [0:51] >> Uh my first day I was nervous. I was [0:53] definitely I was scared. I didn't know [0:54] what was to come and immediately they [0:57] just had they had open arms. Uh all the [0:59] facilitators, all the adults, it didn't [1:01] feel like like necessarily so [1:03] intimidating but rather welcoming and I [1:06] it just was amazing. They had open arms [1:08] and they wanted to make you feel as [1:09] comfortable as possible. [1:11] >> You learn a lot of responsibility [1:15] and taking action on your own and then [1:19] you follow through with it with others [1:20] and so you also learn how to work with [1:23] others. [1:28] [music] [1:36] I think it's really it's really fun. I [1:38] mean, I made a a bunch of friends during [1:40] this. Um, everyone's so welcoming. The [1:42] teachers, Mr. Roy, shout out to Mr. Roy. [1:45] He's he's a really good teacher. [1:46] Everyone, Miss Asia, Miss Adira, you [1:48] know, they're all they all welcome you [1:50] with much love and much care. If we all [1:52] care about the same cause enough, we can [1:55] work together on our own time. Um, even [1:58] though it's so scary. Um, I felt that [2:01] way and I have felt that way for a [2:02] while. But seeing everyone here today [2:04] and even the fellow youth ambassadors [2:06] who are just as young as I am, we still [2:08] [music] care and we still are going to [2:09] do the work to show up and uh make [2:12] actual progress. [2:14] Young [music] people um especially [2:15] students are often times the people that [2:17] experienced um the deepest [2:19] marginalization, the deepest forms of [2:21] oppression in their own communities, but [2:23] are not often given the platform to [2:25] speak up and speak out about them. So [2:27] decisions are made about young people by [2:29] adults um but don't commonly ask young [2:34] people to move alongside us as leaders [2:36] to help us push against systems of [2:38] oppression to help disrupt them to help [2:41] have challenging conversations about [2:42] them [music] um because of uh a wide [2:45] variety of reasons that include [music] [2:47] um the belief that young people don't [2:49] have importance in these conversations [2:51] when actually they should be at the [2:53] center of them. I think they come out [2:55] knowing that who [music] they are um in [2:58] all of their identities is important and [3:02] is a central part of who they are and [3:04] that brings them strength and joy and [3:06] power. [music] [3:07] The knowledge that not only am I [3:10] important but I have the leadership [3:12] ability now to lead others and [3:14] understanding their own importance is [3:16] essential part of what we do. [music]