ERIC Number: EJ790743
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1533-8916
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Available Date: N/A
Anytown: NCCJ's Youth Leadership Experience in Social Justice
Matsudaira, Julia; Jefferson, Ashley
New Directions for Youth Development, n109 p107-115 Spr 2006
In the first part of this article, Julia Matsudaira, a former youth program specialist with the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) and former codirector of Camp Anytown, describes the NCCJ programs that have been dedicated to developing youth leadership through social justice awareness and advocacy for more than fifty years. Originally founded as the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1929, the nonprofit organization has adapted its programming to the issues and concerns of the communities in which it exists, all while remaining focused on the core mission of NCCJ: to fight bias, bigotry, and hatred in America. Camp Anytown is the flagship of NCCJ's youth programs. A residential retreat for high school students that typically spans one week, Anytown gives participants an experiential education in leadership grounded in social justice issues. High school students from diverse geographic, socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds are nominated to attend Anytown by teachers or adult advocates from their schools, places of worship, and other community institutions. Each program participant is considered a representative of the community and background from which he or she comes, so Anytown calls its student participants "delegates." Through interactive exercises, workshops, small- and large-group discussions, and team-building activities, delegates from a broad community learn how to explore differences and discover common understanding based on respect and open communication. The article concludes with a brief report by Ashley Jefferson, a participant and assistant counselor at Camp Anytown, in which she describes her life at Anytown, and the benefits of participation in the program. (Contains 1 figure and 3 notes.)
Descriptors: Youth Programs, Social Bias, Social Discrimination, Experiential Learning, Nonprofit Organizations, Social Justice, Youth Leaders, Leadership Training, High School Students, Advocacy, Student Diversity, Consciousness Raising, Cultural Pluralism, Program Effectiveness, Social Attitudes
Jossey Bass. Available from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail: subinfo@wiley.com; Web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/browse/?type=JOURNAL
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A