Catch up on Our Organizing Bootcamp Trainings

Your Leadership Journey

You Will:

Receive training to promote public awareness around student demands and effectively advocate for your agenda.

Learn how to negotiate agreements that advance policy change.

Discover how to conduct effective organizing actions that influence education and civic leaders in your community.

Unlock your power to hold education decision makers accountable.

Compel local school boards, state-level education leaders, and the federal Department of Education to formally recognize Our Turn’s student demands, which will pave the way for student-designed policy change.

Download the toolkit

Why We Fight

Nothing About Us, Without Us.

Students deserve to have our voices heard. We are taught to value democracy and fair representation in school, now we are calling on our schools to uphold these values by empowering the voices of students to shape our education. Students - especially Black, Indigenous, and students of color - must be positioned as authentic partners in the decision-making process at every level of education.

LEARNING CENTERED ON JUSTICE.

Now is the time for students to reclaim and reimagine how schools teach us. Students deserve a holistic curriculum that dismantles white supremacy in public education. Our country must reconcile with the wrongs of our past and lead a new pathway forward. A just curriculum is truthful about our nation’s history, affirms the intersectional identities of all students, and empowers us to be critical leaders.

PRIORITIZE OUR MENTAL HEALTH.

Before we can expect students to engage in learning, we must prioritize and support their socio-emotional well-being. We should work to actively heal the generational trauma of years of systemic oppression. Our schools must play an active role in supporting students' basic needs.

OUR SCHOOLS, OUR CULTURE.

Students have the greatest understanding of what it takes to create a school culture that is safe and high achieving. We reject one-size-fits-all thinking; we are intersectional beings who deserve to thrive. We demand restorative, collaborative, and culturally competent practices to fulfill our potential.

FULLY INVEST IN OUR FUTURES.

Nowhere is systematic racism more transparent than in the unethical underfunding of our Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities and schools. As young people, we are the leaders of the future, so it is our nation’s duty to invest in the untapped potential of all students. Every child, regardless of their zip code, race, nationality, immigration status, sexuality, or gender identity, should be valued and invested in as individuals and historically marginalized groups. We demand funding practices that meet the communicated needs and aspirations of our communities.