Tough Talk about Student Responsibility:
Growing Student Leaders in Oakland, CA

"...I hope my students will try and change the system, but it's their decision. We're an empowerment program—not a fraternity or some type of special club where you have to be popular to be in it. We're about trying to give students the proper information, enough of a theoretical foundation where they can grow to be better decision makers. Then, if they decide they want to make change, they'll be better prepared on how to do it, and most importantly, they'll have the courage that oppression tries to strip from people, they'll have the courage to go out and give it a shot." —Darrick Smith, TryUMF program at Oakland Tech High School, Oakland, CA

In Oakland, California, students, teachers, district administrators, and community organizations aim to walk the talk when it comes to supporting students as activists in their schools. Forty students from across the district gather regularly in an All-City Council intended to gain student input in district-wide decisions. Three of the city's high schools now feature elective leadership classes open to all students. A number of community-based youth development and organizing groups have joined forces with students and teachers to create an agenda for change, and the school district recently created a position for a youth leadership coordinator.

WKCD's Students as Allies program, sponsored by MetLife Foundation, has had the chance to work with an extraordinary teacher and group of students at Oakland Tech High School who are part of this campaign to raise nontraditional student leaders, in a community where poverty and violence have a hard grip.

Their words speak powerfully to the realities of what it takes for students to become, in the words of the youth leadership coordinator, "citizens, not just tourists" in their schools.

Three years ago, Darrick Smith, a graduate of Oakland Tech High School and the University of California at Santa Cruz, returned to his high school alma mater determined to help students fight the low expectations that keep them down. He began a program called TryUMF (for Try and Uplift My Folks), a leadership class any student can take—and re-take—on a semester basis. Smith makes fierce academic and social demands on students, but they pay off. Of the 30 TryUMF "graduates" in 2004, all but two headed to college (including Northwestern, Spelman, University of Minnesota) in a high school where college is not the norm. They held top leadership positions—from All-City Council President to conflict resolution managers—and gave hours of volunteer service in their school and community.

Here we present excerpts from Darrick Smith's May 2004 speech to 40 student leaders from six Oakland, California high schools at an All-City Council meeting, along with excerpts from an interview with Smith about his work at Oakland Tech. Click to read >>

Recently, WKCD had the chance to sit down and talk with a group of students in the TryUMF program at Oakland Tech. They spoke about what makes the program special, what they've learned, and their determination to change—or at least, defy—the low expectations of teachers, classmates, and the "system." Here we share some of their comments. Click to read >>