In this episode of the Journeys in Youth Development podcast, Georgia Hall, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), talks with Amy Franks and Devan Blackwell about their essays in the book, The Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field: Professional Journeys of Growth, Connection, and Transformation. Both of their essays explore the ways in which youth development experiences can transform lives, and how youth development professionals can promote engagement in activities that foster motivation and self-reflection.
In this episode of the Journeys in Youth Development podcast, Georgia Hall, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), talks with Amy Franks and Devan Blackwell about their essays in the book, The Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field: Professional Journeys of Growth, Connection, and Transformation. Both of their essays explore the ways in which youth development experiences can transform lives, and how youth development professionals can promote engagement in activities that foster motivation and self-reflection.
Amy Franks, associate director of learning partnerships at Book Harvest in Durham, NC, reads from her essay “A Mirror for Black Boys,” about the afterschool book club for Black boys that she created. She talks about a moment of transformation when the boys began to see themselves in the pages of the books they were reading and to feel like their stories were worth telling.
Devan Blackwell, a longtime worker in the OST field and doctoral candidate at Hampton University in Hampton, VA, reads from his essay “Creating Windows Through Words,” about his use of creative writing and journaling to help youth see windows—possibilities for themselves—where previously only brick walls existed. He talks about a student who took to heart the idea of “a dream deferred” from the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem,” and connected it to a college catalog he carried in his backpack.
About the National Institute on Out-of-School-Time:
For 40 years, NIOST has been a leader in defining, shaping, and promoting out-of-school time (OST) as a distinct professional field with evidence-based quality standards. We bridge the worlds of research and practice to provide OST directors, staff, planners, school administrators, community leaders, and others with research, training, evaluation, and consultation to enhance and improve the quality of programs for all children and youth. https://niost.org
NIOST is a program of Wellesley Centers for Women, a research and action institute at Wellesley College that is focused on women and gender and driven by social change. https://www.wcwonline.org
Amy Franks:
With the big dream that one day all afterschool & summer enrichment programs will operate in their own dedicated spaces, Amy Franks has a passion for ensuring families have access to a safe environment that provides diverse, enriching experiences for children and youth, regardless of circumstance. In her twenty five years of experience in the out-of-school time arena, she has worked in afterschool programs in every capacity, beginning as a group leader at an elementary school in college through becoming the head of the School-Community Relations Department in Orange County Schools in Hillsborough, North Carolina, providing leadership and direction to all OST programs for the entire school district. Amy, a former classroom teacher who holds a B.A. in English Education, believing her passion to be advocating the awareness of and addressing the social and emotional needs of children and youth, made the decision to leave the classroom and has never looked back. She has worked primarily in school-based programs but has served in community-based and non-profit organizations as well, providing direct services, supervising others who provide direct services, volunteering in programs, and serving on committees that address needs related to the provision of high-quality afterschool programs. Amy is currently the associate director of school and family engagement at Book Harvest, a Durham-based North Carolina non-profit where her work keeps her connected to school systems across the state through the coordination of programs that provide free access to and ownership of books to students while on summer break, providing professional development to afterschool program providers, and the facilitation of an afterschool-based book club. Additionally, Amy is in her fifth year as an advisory board member of the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs. She is a state and national presenter at out-of-school-time conferences and was both a NASM (National After School Matters) fellow and an EPFP (Education Policy Fellowship Program) fellow. Known to students as "Miss Amy," she enjoys boot camp style workouts, has a fascination for roller derby, and is the proud human companion of a Lynx point Siamese cat named Fancy.
Devan Blackwell:
Devan Blackwell is a National Afterschool Matters Fellow. Throughout his career, regardless of the role, he has always been an enthusiast for the potential of all learners to self-actualize and thrive, both in the classroom and in life. As an educator, Devan has taught in urban settings; created aspirational out-of-school time and summer learning experiences for inner city youth through exposure to the arts and the encouragement of citizenship within their communities; and, worked for a state-level education agency where he provided guidance on the implementation of educational programs that supported the academic growth & cultivated the social-emotional competencies of students (grades K-12). Devan has also led capacity-building professional development to administrators and educators nationally on a wide range of topics, including: how to create a culture of curiosity in classrooms; using documentaries to facilitate deep dialogue; and, strategies that support inclusion and create a positive climate & culture in learning environments. As a Ph.D. candidate at Hampton University, a venerable HBCU, Devan is currently conducting research that examines the effects of film as a means of social and emotional learning—an endeavor that brings together his passions for cinema, education, and the wellbeing of students.
Georgia:
Youth work is a sacred opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of children and youth. In the just released book, The Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field, Professional Journeys of Growth, Connection, and Transformation, the authors use research and personal essays to shine a light on the intricate connections between research and practice, touching upon both the vulnerability and the triumph of youth development work. The passionate voices of youth workers in this volume lead to the inescapable conclusion that programs and policies for youth must be informed by these same voices and the values they express. Welcome to this second conversation on the Heartbeat of the Youth Development field. My name is Georgia Hall from the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College. The Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field is the latest volume in the series Current Issues in Out-of-School Time, which is published by Information Age Publishing under the direction of series editor Dr. Helen Malone at the Institute for Educational Leadership. My guests today are Amy Franks, the associate director of learning partnerships at Book Harvest in Durham, North Carolina, And Devan Blackwell, a longtime worker in the out-of-school time field and a doctoral candidate at Hampton University. Welcome Amy and Devan. We continue this conversation on the importance of showing up for children and youth and how the commitment is central to the work carried out by youth workers, out-of-school time and afterschool program workers, summer camp, and recreation workers every day. The new book, The Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field, lifts up youth worker stories and helps readers connect to the lived experiences of these professionals. Two of the themes we explore in the book essays are, what are the ways in which youth development experiences can actually transform lives? And additionally, how do we promote engagement in activities that foster motivation and self-reflection? Amy and Devan have both contributed essays to the book that speak to these questions. I'm going to turn to Amy first. Amy, your essay is titled A Mirror for Black Boys, and in your essay you talk about your own experience as a reader and your proposal to start an afterschool book club for Black boys. Amy, can you read the first part of your essay for us, A Mirror for Black Boys?
Amy:
Absolutely, Georgia. Thank you for having me. Work in youth development is fueled by a myriad of things. Sometimes it is a desire to do something great or hope to make something better or feel a need, or sometimes it's just good old fashioned anger, white hot boiling point anger. Several years ago I encountered a grade level reading statistic that showed only 14% of Black boys were proficient readers by fourth grade as compared to 42% of their white peers. The research suggested that those who did not hit the proficiency mark by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school. Within the group of those who did not read well, the dropout rates were twice as high for black students as they were for white students. I read that part again and again, becoming more upset each time. Seeing it in writing, knowing about the startling gap, I had to do something to respond.
I proposed an idea to my colleague at the nonprofit Children's Literacy Organization where I worked to start an afterschool book club for Black boys. I have been a reader for as long as I can remember. I enjoyed the classics. I consumed books like they were the very air I needed to breathe. These books, however, didn't have people who looked like me or families that looked like mine or characters with whom I could easily relate. It wasn't until I happened upon a copy of Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, that I realized what I'd been missing. Meeting Cassie Logan and her family changed my life. I felt a kinship with her. I saw bits of myself, my family, and my world in the pages of a book. For the first time, my self worth and my place in the world no longer felt like it was cloaked in darkness. In our first meeting, I came to these nine boys with color printed copies of about 15 books that all featured main characters of color, primarily boys as I presented the first possible book with a cover featuring an elementary school age black boy, one of the boys exclaimed, "Hey! He looks like us!" This was our first mirror moment.
Georgia:
Amy, thank you. So, so you begin this book club, Amy, and you have no idea how it's going to go. And some of the boys admit that they only read for school assignments and others actually say they even dislike reading. And you end up meeting weekly reading together and working on other reading related activities. So what did you experience and how did you know that something special was starting to happen?
Amy:
So what I experienced was a group of boys who, as you mentioned, were not eager to read at all. They reported to me that primarily they read for school assignments and didn't do that if they could get away with it. So reading for pleasure was foreign to them. So I came in kind of with the idea that, okay, maybe at the end they won't necessarily love reading, but maybe I can get them not to dislike it. So kind of a low bar going in, you know, I just wanted them to get past not liking reading. So I go in with the idea that we would read a section of a book each week, we would have a hands-on activity related to that section of the book, and of course we were gonna have snack because what's a book club without food, right?
Georgia:
Right.
Amy:
So we went in, I went in with that idea and we, as you said, we're meeting weekly and they started to really get into the conversations that we were having about the books that we were reading. And the conversations kind of started to veer into their personal lives, you know, so they were weaving connections to their everyday lived experiences with what we were reading in the books. But the moment that I knew that we were an actual book club was when one of the third graders who was a participant in the club, came in super excited. He was like, "Miss Amy, you know that EllRay Jakes book that we read?" And EllRay Jakes is a book that is a part of a nine title series. He had shared with his teacher that we'd read that book and that it was a part of a series. And so she said to him she would buy the series for their classroom. So he was excited to be able to continue with the EllRay Jakes story and see it throughout the series. So the other kids in the club chimed in saying, well, we're gonna ask our teachers to do the same. And for me, that was, that was the solidification of our book club. I knew then that I caught them somehow.
Georgia:
So yeah, that's an incredible story and must have been an amazing moment for you when, when the boys were telling you about wanting that book series, et cetera. What do you think made that experience matter to them and what really made it stick that then they were able to continue forward from that point?
Amy:
So I think that the thing that really made it stick for them was representation. They had said previously they didn't like to read, they didn't like to receive books as gifts. And I really didn't know why, but it clicked because of the options that they gave them for the books that we would read. I did not select the books. They selected the books. And that was the moment when, you know, you just realize representation matters because they chose books that had characters who were living lives that were in some way like theirs, right? They started to see themselves just as I had seen myself in the pages of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. They started to see themselves in the pages of the books that we were reading. And it was important because they had previously only had what we call windows and sliding glass doors experiences. So they were able to glimpse into the lives of others, and in some cases really step into the lives of others through the pages of a book, but they had not had that experience for themselves, right? So they started to see themselves and they started to feel seen and feel like the kinds of lives they were living, their everyday experiences, their stories were worth telling because they were seeing them being told.
Georgia:
Amy, could you read the last part of your essay for us also and give us a glimpse of how this sort of went forward with the boys?
Amy:
Absolutely. I often imagine them discovering more books with characters that represent them and their lives. I see them finding quiet corners to read, imagining the worlds they are entering through the pages of those books and reaching out to peers, not just to discuss the books, but to hold each other up and cultivate their connectedness. And they can be an example for younger boys who look like them, but may not value reading at first, and then come to discover that, just like in love, finding the right fit makes all the difference. My hope is that they continue to be great ambassadors for reading, and that someday soon I'll see that reading proficiency report again, but this time it will tell a different story, having been positively changed one afterschool book club at a time.
Georgia:
Amy, thank you for sharing that story about transformation. And there are many other stories about transformation that are captured in the essays in the book. The potential impact of youth work is very clear. We're challenged to think about what are the kinds of experiences that we can offer to children and youth to provide that pathway towards transformation. Amy inspired youth through a book club and quite in common, Devan, your interest in creative writing and journaling led you to use that domain also as a platform for connection. Can you share the first part of your essay? It's titled, creating Windows Through Words.
Devan:
Absolutely, Georgia, and thank you so much for this opportunity. Early in my career in OST, one day Ursula presented me with the drawing she had made. It was mostly red bricks drawn in a white sheet of construction paper, and at the center there was a window which opened to a vast bluish white sky. "Wow. I love it," I exclaimed as the fifth grade student smiled modestly. "But what does it mean?" Ursula explained that I had created windows where brick walls existed. I had introduced her to the possibilities beyond those walls that she felt surrounded her. It was a revelation to me. Ursula watched as her artwork was prominently displayed on the wall of my supply cabinet. As I studied the drawing in the days and weeks to follow, I recognized that it symbolized so much more for me than Ursula could possibly know.
The image on the paper gave representation to who and what I continue to aspire to be as a youth worker. Ursula's artwork also brought deep meaning and resolved to my work in the OST space. I understood the concept of windows and walls. Everything I wanted to do as a practitioner was done with the intention of creating windows where walls existed. Some walls can seem too difficult to overcome and they block one's vision. When the bricks build up around us, they can eventually box us in, limiting our potential and obscuring our possibilities. The youth I worked with were often labeled "at risk" because of their zip codes and or other circumstances they had no control over more than anything else. I wanted these youth to actualize what it meant to be "at potential." I told them to expand their thinking in some new way every day, knowing that this could often help to start to undo some of those hurtful walls. One by one, we could remove the bricks that made those walls and create windows there instead.
Georgia:
So Devan, you have this sort of startling experience with this one youth who quite innocently is just presenting you with some artwork, but it becomes very symbolic to you, not only of that youth's experience, but also of your own sort of orientation, you know, towards your work.
Devan:
Absolutely. And you know, that was something that was one of those moments that defined your career or that defined, I guess, the space where you feel you need to be. And listen, I was one of those black boys who would've benefited greatly from Amy's book club. Writing saved me as a young adult and it transformed my life. So, my specialty as a program leader was always to engage youth in self-expression and self-actualization through the creative writing and journaling process.
Georgia:
Yeah. So tell us more about, about that, the creative writing and and journaling process that you took, that approach that you took with your youth, and then also you talk in your essay about an experience with Rahjaan and tell us about that too.
Devan:
Absolutely. So the activities I planned were always intended to provide opportunities for the youth to reflect on and express their feelings and to imagine their place in the world, maybe we could even say to reimagine their places in the world. The activity would always begin with an open-ended question. And that was my opportunity to expose them to new things. My goal was always to expand their minds and their thinking. So I would present them with quotes and, you know, the words and lyrics of people like ancient stoics like Epictetus, the words of poets like Langston Hughes, lyrics of songwriters like John Lennon. And my only direction was, you know, for writing—besides the prompt—was to create something today that didn't exist before. A new idea, a new interest, or a new question that they could explore.
So a lot of students were focused on what is the right thing, what is the right thing to write? Like, what is the answer that you want? And it was always, the right thing is just to explore and to see where this idea takes you. You know, I always talk about the brain and how at the end of our session, their brain should be a different shape just based on all the things we did, all the things we talked about. And I really believed that. And I think they started to to believe it themselves, which hopefully did maybe reshape the way they thought about themselves and their realities because a lot of the students were living in environments where there were so many limitations around. And, you know, there's, there's that kind of living in a box type of mentality some people have.
And that's what we are there to do, is to kind of, you know, remove those bricks to, to take them out of those boxes and to really give them a new space or a new perspective to see a reality for themselves that might not have existed before they came into our programs. There was a student I had named Rahjaan. And Rahjaan stands out because again, thinking about Langston Hughes, one of my favorite poems is Harlem. And the poem of course opens with the question, what happens to a dream deferred? So Rahjaan and I talked for many, many days about the meaning of the word "deferred" and how our goals for ourselves can sometimes get stalled or feel entirely out of reach. So one day I noticed that there was a college catalog that was crushed among the papers and books in his backpack. Teachers and parents, you can envision the backpack I'm describing just a crush of papers and books.
But there was this catalog and I asked him about it and realized that that catalog represented a dream that Rahjaan had for himself. It was a dream that maybe no one else had for him because his grades weren't great, but he carried that around because that was his dream. So using the language in the poem to express his feelings, Rahjaan wrote that he did not want his dream to dry up or sag, but rather he wanted his dream to explode. So I asked him one day, well, what do you mean by explode? And he explained to me like, how rocket takes off in the sky. So that story, that interaction, demonstrates how the writing and reflection began to create that window that Rahjaan needed to see out of as he started to reimagine himself soaring and transforming.
Georgia:
I love the expression that Rahjaan uses in answering your question when you ask about what it means to explode. And he explains that he wants to take off like a rocket in the sky. And I think it goes back to what you were talking about in terms of bringing these opportunities for youth to explore, to self-reflect and to find their, find their voice and find a new voice in, in many ways through the literature, through the other things that you present and this opportunity to really think about what's important to them and where they want to go, what their dreams are. So I appreciate that about the story that you share about Rahjaan in the essay. I wonder, Devan, if you would read that last part of your essay where you go back to think about Ursula's work and the experience you had with the youth, taking them through the journaling and self-reflection time.
Devan:
Sure. It all goes back to those red bricks drawn on a white sheet of construction paper and the window at the center that opened up to a vast sky. Ursula's artwork, her unexpected gift to me, was so instrumental in my journey as a youth worker. It helped me to see my role and the mechanism of writing as a way to engage youth in experiences that would change their perspectives about themselves and their futures. There's always a window that can be made, an opening from which to see a possibility. More than just a way to see out—a window can be a lifeline.
Georgia:
Thank you Devan, and thank you Amy because both of your essays and stories are really about opening up windows for youth to see themselves in new ways and to create a new identity for themselves and a new confidence, et cetera. Thank you for sharing your powerful stories. It's inspiring and motivating to hear these stories. The book, the Heartbeat of the Youth Development Field, which includes essays that you heard from Amy and Devan and many others, along with research chapters that are focused on journeys in the youth field, relationship building, and connection and transformation is available at www.niost.org. This is Georgia Hall from the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley College, and we wish you well