Young Black and Latino students sit around a table, discussing, laughing, crafting and snacking. They talk about anything from race and ethnicity to their science projects and holiday breaks. In predominantly white spaces, like Brookline, affinity between students of color have been a stepping stone for success for many.
In some schools, K-8 African American and Latino students no longer have the opportunity to participate in one affinity group: the Young Scholars Program (YSP). While some staff step up to create spaces for students of color, a variety of factors, including funding and school demographics, are challenging students’ access to these programs.
Inspired by the high school’s African American and Latino Scholar’s Program (AALSP), YSP was started to build a community which celebrates students’ backgrounds and history. The YSP program was founded over ten years ago at Driscoll School, and soon after there was an effort to offer YSP in every school. Currently, only three out of eight K-8 schools, Hayes, Lincoln and Baker, host meetings.
Driscoll fifth grade classroom teacher Viridiana Hawkins was one of the founders of the Young Scholars Program. When her own two children joined the high school’s AALSP, she said she wanted to motivate elementary students to join an affinity group.
“I know what it’s like as a Latina in Brookline. As a teacher, I’d see that I’d have one or two African American kids in the class and there’s that feeling that if we bring the kids together it’d be a positive thing,” Hawkins said. “It is not a remedial program by any stretch of the imagination. It was a time to get together, to learn and to work together and to have a voice in your school.”
Driscoll, the first school to initiate the program, is not running YSP this year due to scheduling and funding issues. In the past, YSP staff and students have organized an annual Juneteenth celebration to share history, poetry and speeches. According to Hawkins, this kind of community building has been a highlight of the program.
“That [Juneteenth celebration] is something that I’m very proud of. And I know that we’re one of the few schools [where] the whole school participates,” Hawkins said. “That’s all run by YSP students, teachers and faculty, and it’s their time to shine.”
Hayes second grade teacher and co-leader of YSP Karen Shashoua has been consistently organizing weekly meetings after school. Over the course of a school year, Shashoua and her co-leader, Tatiana Beckwith, organize up to five field trips and five guest speakers for students to interact with and learn from. Shashoua said the program also serves as a place for students to process their thoughts and emotions.
“We do a lot of talk about understanding who’s in the room and everybody’s background, and kids come to understand different parts of people’s identities,” Shashoua said. “We do a lot of work also around history, learning stories and things that are going on nowadays.”
Runkle science teacher Djems Domerson and guidance counselor Rebecca Snieder co-led Runkle’s YSP from its inception until 2023, when the school’s program stopped. Runkle’s YSP would host potlucks and sell Black History Month sweaters to students and staff. Domerson said that townwide funding issues and administration job eliminations have played a part in the program’s splintering.
“There’s been turnover at other YSP’s of the people who are leading it and you won’t know who [they are] because there’s no central person [in town hall],” Domerson said. “When we used to do YSP years ago, we used to be able to get together as directors and that hasn’t happened in the last two, three years.”
Shashoua said the collaboration meetings between YSP leaders were an amazing opportunity for her as an educator. When they ceased, she said she did not know which schools’ programs were running.
“I feel so disconnected from everybody. I really mourn that,” Shashoua said. “I think the district should be prioritizing this program. In order to prioritize it, you also have to prioritize the educators who put in the time and effort, value them, give them professional development and let them collaborate.”
Finding meeting and planning time has posed a challenge for YSP. Unlike AALSP, where high school students’ schedules dedicate a block for the program, young scholars members meet after school, requiring a facilitator to have the flexibility to meet.
“It really has to be someone that’s passionate about it and genuinely interested in doing it,” Hawkins said. “People are interested in doing it, but it’s a lot of work. As a full-time teacher, it can be exhausting.”
Another contributing factor to the program’s lull in participation has been the school body itself. In his years at Runkle, Domerson said he’s noticed a pattern in staff demographics. Domerson said he is the only Black male science teacher, and the second Black male teacher in Runkle’s history. He has also noted a change in student population.
“Our numbers [of kids of color] have gone down consistently. When I started at Runkle I remember there was a huge amount of kids of color,” Domerson said. “[Now], I’m looking at a standpoint of sixth grade Black students; I’ve got three. And now maybe three or four Hispanic students.”
While YSPs vary in grade range depending on the school, Hayes’ program is open to third to eighth grade students. According to Shashoua, YSP tends to have fewer middle school students than elementary school students.
“It gets a little tricky in middle school. Everybody wants to join the volleyball team or join the school soccer team so then we lose the [young] scholars to practice,” Shashoua said. “We don’t keep them as long, but they’re scholars at heart and they, a lot of times, still go and join the program at the high school.”
Hawkins said she has observed that trend of middle school participation at Driscoll, and she continues to have a connection with them. Hawkins said having the program, and getting together does make a difference.
“We need to start at a young age to let the little ones know that they are not alone, that they do belong here, that we love them and that we’re all in this together,” Hawkins said. “A couple of steps forward, a couple of steps back. And like with everything, it takes time. It’s not easy.”
