What teens deserve: A creative out-of-school program

Jon speaks with Dr. David Penberg, who ran the Liberty  Partnership Program at Bank Street College in the 1990s, and two of the participants, Madelyn Baez, and Tara Crichlow. Three decades later, Madelyn, Tara, and David explain how the program changed the trajectory of their lives. The Liberty Partnership was created as a college prep intervention for underserved and marginalized middle school students.   For the participants, it was a safe place of "uncomfortable empowerment" where their opinions were taken seriously in a simultaneously supportive and challenging environment.

Overview00:00-00:45 Intro

00:45-01:56 Liberty Partnership Program (LPP) origin and description

01:56-03:36 What LPP felt like to Madelyn and Tara

03:36-07:03 LPP structure and goals

07:03-09:40 How Madelyn and Tara joined

09:40-14:42 How experiences in the program were different from school

14:42-19:10 Environmental conversations

19:10-19:24 Trip to China

19:24-20:49 Asset-based program; not about “fixing” the young people

20:49-23:03 Opportunities and relationships

23:03-26:04 “Uncomfortable empowerment”