​The final (Zoom) installment of the Youth Council’s was about time management. In other words, how do they manage the most precious resource they’ll ever have?

To start, I asked them to do a list of 10 tasks in eight minutes- find out the first weather satellite, or do 10 jumping jacks, or even find and share the link to their favorite recipe. Anna won, doing all of the tasks- but the other two weren’t that far behind. They all prioritized the tasks differently, picking stuff that was quickest or easiest for them.
Next, I had them think about how a highly successful person (Ahmad Woodard brought up Michael Jordan) spends a day-think a 1998 playoffs game, Bulls against the Utah Jazz. We came up with a likely schedule of his day together. When did he get up (5am)? Practice (6am-time of game)? Or press conference (10 minutes)? We deduced that someone as busy as he was wouldn’t have much time for social media or niceties-his focus was on the game.

Finally, we each made a pie chart of our regular day, examined what we had to do, and determined if each action in that day built towards the future that we wanted. During this exercise, Mark and Anna mentioned the time other mentors gave to them, too.

I’m glad that they chose to spend time with me. Plus, they’ve helped me learn so much about my own priorities these past few weeks. The kids will be alright. 

​The Youth Council managed to meet this week, after all.
The staff Project Create DC started up Zoom, and smushed all of our faces together for our first virtual tour of a museum.

The popular choice was NMAAHC. The website experience was different from the Instagram-like, teachers on one side, youth on the other- but you learn different things at different places for a reason.
On the website, we looked at a manifesto authored by #BayardRustin and #CesarChavez- blue in English, black in Spanish, signatures out big as John Hancock’s, owning all of that front page.

We of course talked about lots of artifacts, but just as importantly, we talked about our daily lives and what surrounds us while we’re living them. Anna showed off her custom designed wall in her house, a cube that Shannelle started painting, and everybody made some slight fun of Mark for getting left behind at a past museum trip (he stayed with us this time, though.) Anna, who had the energy to do softball, volleyball, and play Cinderella as a kid kept that same energy while we we were all on Zoom, and it helped make the class special.
While we were traveling #apeoplesjourney on IG, we talked about Queen Latifah’s key, Run DMC’s Kangol, Aretha’s long furs. Sometimes, with our own history, it brands us (like the story behind the key); or, artists can brand history (Applebottoms,etc.) Finally, we landed on something that I thought was a #NormanLewis painting- but it was the pieces of the #Clotilde, the last slave ship to wreck itself in America. I showed the youth council Norman’s work, of Klans members or of white flags fluttering against the pitch dark.

Ultimately, I tried to get them to think about how leaders either take ownership of or subvert a story altogether. It’s an important skill. Stay tuned.