Howard U, Sec. Duncan Hold Youth Summit

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will give remarks followed by a question and answer session at Voices in Action: National Youth Summit, hosted by the U.S. Department of Education tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 26 at Howard University.

During his address, Duncan will highlight the President’s national goal to once again lead the world in college graduates by 2020, and he will discuss the valuable role youth play in improving education by taking responsibility for their education and acting as student leaders in their schools and communities.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education organized a National Youth Listening Tour in 13 cities and over 1,700 middle and high school student participated.

This weekend, the Department will hold its first-ever national youth summit to provide students the opportunity to share findings from last year’s tour with peers from across the country, administration officials and education policy leaders.

The summit also includes discussion sessions based around the tour’s five most common themes: effective teaching, college information gaps, parental involvement, community mentors and school climate and discipline.

In addition, the daylong event will include workshops as well as music and entertainment from participating youth and youth organizations.

Adobe Youth Voices, a global initiative of the Adobe Foundation that empowers youth through technology and media, will kick off the summit with a student-produced song, entitled, “2020 Vision,” that shows what communities, families and schools can do to help youth be more successful in school. Additional entertainment includes a poetry slam by Guerilla Arts Ink Entertainment along with performances by DJ Priest and Asheru.